Bushido League: A samurai's quest
by Chaos-Paladin
Summary: AU. Satoshi starts his final year at the school for fighters. The first day seals his fate in what will be filled with tons of romance, battles, and strange, yet funny, cast of characters. This is the start of an epic legend.
1. Fates and Fist collide

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon! Quit asking!

This is a new idea I came up with, inspired by watching Naruto (Which I am starting to get into) so expect similarities! I will be using Japanese names and terms when necessary so be on the look out. Hopefully, this makes up for my lack of updates.

**Edit: **I've decided to fix up and revise this fiction a bit better so it's more pleasing to the senses. No major changes were harmed in the making of this repair.

* * *

**_Bushido League: A samurai's quest_**

By Chaos Paladin

* * *

_Night enveloped his surroundings as a storm raged under the moonlight. He clutched his sword tightly. His body seared from the deep gashes and exhaustion was overtaking him fast. Blood trickled down his face, forcing him to shut one of his eyes. _

_Across from him, a white haired man grinned devilishly, his red eyes filled with bloodlust. _

"_Satoshi-kun, your end draws near…" The man spoke coldly. "Any last words?"_

"_Just one…" Satoshi held his sword to his side, twisting it horizontally. "…die." In an instant, they sprinted towards each other, closing the distance between them quickly. They were mere feet away when—_

"SATO-KUN, WAKE UP!"

Satoshi woke up with a start, sweating profusely. He gripped his head, attempting to recover from the sudden rush of movement. Slowly, he began to regain focus, recognizing his room. There was his shelf of books, a window, a collection of wooden katanas, a television connected to a video game system, a desk with a stack papers on top, and a lamp. He saw someone staring at him. A muddy brown haired teenager that was slightly older than him. Blue eyes bored into his russet ones, screaming impatience.

"What's with you today?" The annoyed teen barked. Satoshi, genuinely confused, stared back at him groggily.

"Huh?" He shook his head in order to wake himself him, his messy black hair flailing all over the place.

"You're going to be late! Hurry up and get dressed!"

"Shigeru-niichan, what are you talking about?" Satoshi noticed his uniform. It was a Hakama with a red top and white bottom, indicating that he was at a swordsman at a high level, higher than he was. Curiosity struck him as he began to ponder why he would have his samurai uniform on. That is until Shigeru hit his head with a wooden training katana. Satoshi grabbed his head and hissed in agony.

"Idiot!" Shigeru reprimanded. "Today's the big day! It's the first day of your class A training!"

"What!" Satoshi exclaimed, frantic. "What time is it?" He hastily looked at his clock. When he saw the time, he nearly fainted. "Eight thirty? Crap, I'm gonna be late! Why didn't you wake me up sooner?"

"What did you think I was doing the entire time?" Shigeru retorted. Wasting no time at all, Satoshi jumped out of bed and ran into the bathroom. A few minutes later, he stepped out in his school uniform. It was a Hakama similar to Shigeru's, but the top was blue and the bottom was black. He was about to run out the door when Shigeru called him.

"Hey, Sato-kun!" When Satoshi turned around, he barely caught the wooden sword that was tossed to him. "You don't want to forget that." And with that, Satoshi thanked him and ran off.

When he arrived at the school court yard, he stopped and glanced around, trying to pinpoint where he had to go. The court yard was beautifully designed and constructed. There were many hang out spots and trees all around. Students from different classes passed by, wearing their department-specific garments.

The four corners of the school were special halls that lead to a specified school. The school itself was enormous since it was made up of five smaller schools, each specializing in a particular art: Martial arts, ninja arts, magic arts, sword arts, and universal arts, his current destination.

Satoshi began walking towards the universal arts building at a brisk pace; daydreaming about how much fun he was going to have. He had just graduated from the B class, making him a senior classman. He hoped that he would make some new friends, go on adventures, and maybe even be world famous! Once he was done with the Universal class, he would travel the world, compete in tournaments, win bouts, and kick major butt.

_'In one year, I am going to become an elite samurai!' _He broke into a jog, trying any means to contain his overexcitement. _'And once I do, I will be even closer to becoming a master swordsman! Nothing's gonna stop me now!'_

While he was daydreaming, he didn't notice someone coming in front of him, resulting in a crash. His forehead smashed into the other person's head, causing them both to fall back. Satoshi shook his head and glanced at the person he bumped into. She was a girl around his age, and by the looks of her uniform, she must've been from the martial arts department. The girl had medium long orange hair and wore a light blue sleeveless training vest with white wrappings under it. He took notice of the brown sash that held up her blue sweat pants. She must be pretty good to only be a rank under black belt. Her feet and hands were covered with more white wrappings.

He got up first and walked over to her, extending his hand. "Sorry about that miss." Satoshi apologized. The girl's aquamarine eyes looked up at him, looking very agitated by his clumsiness. She smacked his hand away angrily and stood up, glaring dangerously.

"Watch where you're going next time you moron!" She snapped harshly. Satoshi pursed his lips distastefully. He had only known her for two seconds and already he could tell she was a tomboy, a red headed tomboy.

This had trouble written all over it.

"I said I was sorry!" He retorted, glaring back at her with the same attitude.

"Well I don't care! Just get out of my way, or else there will be something else for you to be sorry about!" She barked defiantly. Satoshi could've just easily walked away; already being late for his first class, but his honor was at stake. He couldn't let that slide.

"Don't go all PMS on me just because you feel like it! I apologized already so quit acting like a brat!" Right after he said that, her fist careened right into his cheek, the force pushing him back slightly. His eyes widened as he froze. She just punched him! And quite hard too! She didn't look too strong at first. Actually, she was pretty scrawny looking.

_'I guess looks can be deceiving.' _Satoshi figured. The girl huffed, looking down on him smugly. Even if she was a girl, he wasn't going to go easy on her. He bounced forward and shoved her with his shoulder. Caught off guard, she gave a cry as she fell to the ground. She looked absolutely shocked at first. No boy ever had the guts to actually stand up to her. But she wasn't impressed.

Needless to say, this meant war!

Jumping to her feet, she immediately took hostile action. In rapid succession, her fist and feet flew at Satoshi speedily. He took several steps back while shifting left and right to dodge and block her attacks. When he saw an opening, he grabbed her arms and pinned her on a wall. She tried to move, but he pressed her hard, trying to restrain her. The girl was like a wild tiger trying to get out of its cage, and he was having a hard time containing her.

"Calm down!" Satoshi commanded her, but she didn't listen. Instead, she kneed him in the stomach, making him lose his grip on her. When she was free, she pushed him away with her feet, successfully knocking him down. She was about to pounce on him when a girl grabbed her from behind.

"Let. Me. GO!" The red head demanded through clenched teeth. The teenager behind her remained unfazed and continued to hold back the enraged woman.

"Stop it Kasumi-chan! You're already late for class; you're gonna get yourself in trouble like last time!"

"But Furuura-chan, he started it by running into me!"

"Don't lie, I saw the whole thing!" Furuura chastised. "Yes, he did run into you by accident, but when he apologized, you bit his head off. He was being nice and polite to you and you just had to punch him. What else was he suppose to do?" After thinking it over, Kasumi calmed down slightly, but was still peeved. Furuura hesitantly released her, hoping she wasn't going to try to kill the poor boy. She walked over to Satoshi, who had just recovered from the brutal assault and helped him up to his feet. "I'm SO sorry about my friend here. She's the type the attack first and ask questions later."

"I've noticed…" Satoshi said dryly. Looking at his watch, his eyes widened. He was over 25 minutes late! Frantic, his feet went into overdrive as he started jogging in place. "Excuse me, but I've really got to get going. Thanks for the help! Bye!" Satoshi began running speedily towards his class.

As soon as he opened the door to his classroom, all eyes were on him. Feeling embarrassed, he quietly took his seat which was placed by the window. There were nine tables, each filled with two students. He sighed contently when he noticed that he got a really good spot, and by himself too. When he sat down, the teacher stared at him sternly, making him to sink in his seat. The instructor was huge and tanned. He looked very intimidating, and with him staring directly at Satoshi, it didn't make him feel any less nervous.

"And…you would be…" The instructor requested, annoyed that he interrupted the class. Satoshi stood up quickly to introduce himself.

"My name is Tajiri Satoshi , sensei!" He said loud and clear.

"You may call me Mathisu, Satoshi. Now if you would sit down we can get started." Before Mathisu could begin teaching again, a quick series of steps could be heard approaching. He sighed tiredly as he waited for the next guest. Satoshi stared at the door in wonder. Who could possibly be later than him? His thoughts went to the incident that happened earlier. What was that about anyway? One's thing for sure, if he ever saw her again, it would be too soon.

The door flew open, and Kasumi rushed inside, panting heavily. Once again, all eyes were on her. She noticed Satoshi and gaped in shock, pointing at him.

"It's you!" She shouted. Satoshi's mouth hung open, stunned.

This was a lot sooner than he had hoped.

After regaining his voice, he decided to speak. "You have this class too?"

They stared at each other, startled by this new turn of events. The students looked back and forth between them, wondering what connection the two had. A cough from the teacher turned all attention to him. He was looking quite irritated to say the least.

"Is this come-late-to-class day?" He asked sarcastically. "Who might you be?"

Kasumi bowed in respect. "I apologize for my tardiness." She started. "My name is Yawa Kasumi ."

"Okay, Kasumi-san, you will be excused only once this time. Be sure that you are not late again."

"Yes sensei." She said nervously. Mathisu went back to teaching the class. She began to look for a seat. Being late, she saw only one seat left. Satoshi noticed the look on her face and easily guessed what was on her mind. They both paled.

_'No…way…'_ Satoshi thought bewildered. Hesitantly, Kasumi made her way towards his table and sat next to him. There was awkwardness and tension between them. Trying to ignore her, Satoshi was about to take out his notebook only to remember that he left it back at his room.

He was starting to wish he had stayed in bed today.

Kasumi glanced at him, curious as to why he was mumbling lowly to himself. She saw that he had come unprepared and sighed.

_'What's with this guy?' _She thought. She leaned towards him to whisper, causing him to shift uncomfortably. "You're pretty scatterbrained aren't ya…?" Satoshi didn't answer, but instead looked away, trying to avoid another assault. Kasumi groaned inwardly. She knew what he was trying to do, and it only made her feel worse. Pretending not to notice or care, she slid her notebook towards the middle of the table so that he could see her notes. Satoshi glanced over at her, a little surprised by her slightly caring actions.

_'She's probably felt bad for trouncing me this morning.'_ He concluded in his thoughts. "Thanks…" He whispered back to her.

"Don't get any ideas…" She warned. "This doesn't make us friends or anything. This is just repentance for attacking you…"

"Okay, okay…" Satoshi conceded, looking over her notes. Unknown to Satoshi, a girl that sat a few tables away, gazed longingly at him.

The first of two classes ended near the afternoon, granting everyone a break. When the signal bell rang, the first thing Satoshi and Kasumi did was separate. The last thing they wanted was to be near each other. Satoshi managed to grab some food and sit down under a tree. Enjoying his hour break and an entrée of delicious food, he ate happily.

He couldn't wait for his second class. It was his favorite kind of class, physical training exercises. While the first class was informative, he felt that it was too boring for his taste. His true skills and prowess showed on the field. He relished the thought of the rumors that he had heard about it. Apparently, they set you up in teams of four, each person from another department, thus the term 'universal' department. This would greatly help him, especially since it would help him learn more and become even stronger.

Still having around 45 minutes to kill, he decided to take a break and relax. He leaned into the tree and closed his eyes, letting his mind drift.

_Shuffle, shuffle._

_'What was that?' _Satoshi thought. He looked around, but saw no one near him. _'Must've been my imagination.' _He closed his eyes again, trying to rest.

_Shuffle, Shuffle, Shuffle._

Satoshi jumped up, looking a little more alert. He looked around more carefully, but found nothing. _'What's going on around here?'_ He thought, scouting the area again.

_Shuffle, Shuffle, SNAP!_

_'It's coming from above!' _As Satoshi looked up, he saw a flash of white right before it collided with him. There was a big crash and explosion of dust. When the dust settled, a teenage boy laid on top of him, temporarily incapacitated. _'What is this, attack-Satoshi day?'_

When they both recovered, Satoshi looked at the surprise attacker. Looking closely, he could tell that this boy was from the ninja arts department. The ninja had on an all black ninja outfit with a short sleeved top, complete with a sash that carried shurikens and kunais. He wore his signature black head band with his school's symbol: the yin yang. Over his eyes was a pair of black shades.

The boy got off of him and smoothed back his snow white hair. "Oops, sorry about that." The ninja apologized. In an instant, he began to panic. "Crap, crap, crap, I am SO dead!"

"What's wrong?" Satoshi asked, still feeling odd about him falling from a tree. "And why were you hiding in a—" He got cut off by a fireball that zipped passed him. Startled, Satoshi jumped back. He saw someone running after them, someone really upset about something.

"You get back here Yuuki-kun!" The girl in the distance yelled, making a bee line for them.

Satoshi saw the brown haired girl coming towards them. From the white and yellow robe she wore, it was obvious that she was from the magic arts class. Her sapphire eyes burn with fury as she darted at them.

"Yipe! Busted!" Yuuki gasped. He grabbed Satoshi's arm and ran, dragging the poor bystander into the chaos. "No time to explain! If you wish to live, run now!" Without a moments time to waste, they both ran away from the mage.

"You are so dead!" The girl shrieked, conjuring more fireballs and throwing them.

Fire rained on the two boys as they ran for their lives. Yuuki, being a ninja, easily traversed the terrain by running on walls and leaping over obstacles. Satoshi, on the other hand, was having some trouble. He managed to get burned a few times. After leaping down a flight of stairs he caught up with Yuuki.

"Why on earth is she trying to chase you down so badly?" Satoshi asked.

"It's a long and boring story, you wouldn't want to know." Yuuki waved it off.

"Give back my donut you thief!"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…well, it's a boring story anyway."

Satoshi grabbed his shoulder, stopping him in his tracks. Yuuki stared at him as though he went mad. He was mad alright…

"YOU MEAN TO TELL ME I NEARLY GOT KILLED OVER A DONUT?" He yelled at the top of his lungs. Yuuki stared blankly at him.

"It was a _frosted_ donut to be more precise." Yuuki corrected smartly. "Beside, with an attitude like that, you can make anything sound bad."

Satoshi grabbed his wooden katana, planning to beat the life and stupidity out of him when the magician used her baton-like wand to do the job for him. With one full body swing, she leapt in the air and slammed Yuuki in the face. Yuuki shot off like a missile, going a good couple of yards before skidding across the pavement to a painful halt. Unfortunately for him, the pain didn't end there because the girl caught up to him and started to beat him ferociously. Satoshi winced at the poor ninja's pain. After four agonizing minutes, the teenage monstrosity ceased her onslaught and grabbed the donut from his pocket. Suddenly, she twirled and performed the victory sign with her hand.

"Yay, another victory for me!" She cheered, singing a victory tune.

There was moment of silence…

"Aw, come on Haruka-chan. You didn't have to hit so hard…" Yuuki whined.

"Well, you didn't have to steal my donut." She extended her hand, pulling up an almost perfectly fine Yuuki, except for a few bandages here and there.

Satoshi was amazed. _'How the heck did he recover so fast?' _He continued watching them. It was like watching comedy on the road.

"Oh please may I have the donut?" Yuuki begged.

Haruka sighed, giving him an emotionless stare. "You just don't know when to give up do you?"

"Well, it looks like I no choice…" Yuuki said tauntingly. Haruka looked away, trying her best not to look at him.

"Oh no, that's not going to work on me again!"

Yuuki took off his shades, revealing his ruby red eyes. Satoshi stared at him shocked. At that point, he remembered that dream he had. It's the same one he always had ever since a few months ago. But it couldn't have been him. That man was evil and maniacal.

This guy was an idiot.

He continued to watch Yuuki. The ninja gazed at Haruka with an adorable puppy dog eyes as he got on his knees and shifted towards her. She continued to resist, but was faltering noticeably.

"Pretty please Haru-chan, with a cherry on top!" He begged again, this time using a voice that Satoshi thought was hilarious yet cute all the same.

At that point, she cracked.

"Okay fine!" She surrendered. "You can have the stupid donut!" It was then Yuuki grabbed the donut and did a dramatic victory pose that was exactly like Haruka's.

"Alright!" He cheered, doing the victory sign. "I got a donut!

Satoshi promptly fell over anime style.

"Huh?" The odd duo looked at Satoshi, who was staring back at them. There was a long pause.

"…um, who are you again?" Yuuki asked, puzzled.

Satoshi fell over again. This was just too much!

"I'm the guy you dragged throughout the entire campus!" Satoshi said, aggravated.

"…oh, right. Hey, I didn't catch your name."

"It's Satoshi." Satoshi regained his calm atmosphere and smiled kindly. "What are your names?"

"Well, I'm Odamaki Yuuki , ninja extraordinaire!"

"I'm…I'm…" Haruka swallowed hard, feeling butterflies in her stomach. She felt her face getting warm just by looking at him. Impatient, Yuuki nudged her with his elbow, bringing her back to reality. "Oh right, I'm Momiji Haruka !" She laughed nervously, feeling awkward and embarrassed.

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you guys." Satoshi greeted, shaking hands with Yuuki. "I've got to ask, are you two related?"

Yuuki and Haruka gaped at him aghast, appalled by the idea. "Are you out of your mind? Of course not! Eww!" They spat in disgust. Satoshi couldn't help but chuckle lightly. It was entertaining watching them act like children.

"No, we're just childhood friends." Haruka explained. They heard the sound of a bell, indicating that their break was over. "Looks like it's time to go."

"Well alright." Satoshi agreed. He turned to leave, but not before saying goodbye to them. "We should hang out sometime! See ya!"

"Later man!" Yuuki waved.

"Bye…" Haruka said dreamily. When she came out of her reverie, Yuuki was directly in front of her face, causing her to jump back in surprise. "What are you doing?"

Yuuki crossed his arms, scrutinizing her carefully. "You've been spacey ever since your first class. Are you feeling alright?" He asked, genuinely concerned. She shook her head and smiled brightly.

"Oh I'm fine, perfectly fine." She skipped off to class gaily, leaving Yuuki to his thoughts.

_'She's really been out of it. And the way she keeps looking at that Satoshi guy…ah what do I care? Well, got to get to class. Wait a minute…I'M IN HER CLASS!' _Surprised, he ran after Haruka to catch up.

Satoshi came inside a classroom. He must've come early because no one was here, not even the teacher. If what he heard was correct, they normally come here first, and then go outside. He observed the interior. Like all of the classes and halls, the wooden floor was polished and smooth out. There were no tables like in the other classrooms, but inside there was a line of different weapons on the walls.

He always liked the design and environment of Arcadia, the school of mastery. It was called such because it was the same school that housed the five masters of legend. If anything, he wanted to be just like them. No, he wanted to be better than them, better than anyone.

Seeing that he must've been pretty early, he decided to sit on a ledge by the window and released a tired sigh. He let one of his legs dangle while he had his other leg up, resting his arm on it. Today was one of the weirdest experiences he ever had. As soon as he woke up, it was like all heck broke loose. First, he woke up late, then he was attacked by that weird girl, then he had the same class as her, which freaked him out a bit, and after that there were those two people. They were nice, but strange…scratch that, they were just plain nuts. He shuddered to think of what would happen next.

"Man, they are sure taking a long time…" Satoshi thought out loud.

"Who's taking a long time?" A familiar voice spoke, scaring the wits out of him.

"K-Kasumi-san? What are you doing here?"

"Duh, my last class is here."

"Oh…"

The room fell into an uncomfortable silence. It was too quiet, but Satoshi didn't really care. He continued to look out the window, trying to avoid eye contact. Rule number one, red heads and tomboys are a very dangerous combination. Kasumi got irritated with his silent treatment. She was about to say something when a group of students all rushed in. Yuuki and Haruka came inside as well. When they saw Satoshi, they immediately came up to him.

"What's up?" Yuuki greeted. Satoshi immediately brighten up, greeting him as well.

"Awesome! So you guys are in this class too?" Yuuki and Haruka nodded. "This is going to be such a cool year!"

"Spare me…" Kasumi rolled her eyes, walking to the opposite side of the room. The room was bustling until their teacher arrived. Their instructor was well built and athletic, who had black hair and brown eyes. He had on a red vest and sweat pants. His atmosphere was very laid-back and calm, though the fact he had a ninja mask over his mouth was a mystery.

"So, you all are my students huh? Alright, listen up!" the instructor began. "First of all, you guys may call me Hayabusa; I will be your trainer for the rest of the year. To those that are new to this course, I will give you the run down. From now until you graduate, you will be placed on a team. Each team will select one person on their team as leader. You will be in groups of four. Don't get too excited because I will be the one choosing for you. Now, I will read the groups and go from there." He took out a sheet of paper and began to call out names. Some people cheered while others groaned loudly. After some time, it came down to the last few groups.

"Alright, next is team number six. It will be the following: Tajiri Satoshi …" Satoshi looked up, curious as to what his team will be. "Momiji Haruka…"

_'Yes, score!' _she thought excitedly.

"Odamaki Yuuki …" Yuuki and Haruka gave each other high fives, grinning excitedly. "And…Yawa Kasumi…"

"WHAT?" Kasumi screeched, getting everyone's attention.

_'For crying out loud…' _Satoshi thought, cursing his luck.

Hayabusa stared at Kasumi emotionlessly. "Is there a problem Kasumi-san?"

"Yes there is Hayabusa-sensei!"

"Then get over it, because the four of you are stuck until I decide otherwise. Although, if you really don't want to be in the group, you can always drop out and wait ten more years." Kasumi quieted back down, mumbling a few curses. He continued on until he finished the list. "Now, tomorrow you all will be getting a _special_ gift from yours truly. I will give you the rest of the day off in order to get to know your team. However, tomorrow we will begin our training exercises, so loosen up. Do me a favor and don't be pathetic…or stupid. The last thing I want to do is waste my time kicking you out. You're all dismissed."

Satoshi stood in place, staring in shock. This was just too much of a coincidence. The same girl that brutally mauled him is going to be on his team? Hopefully Yuuki and Haruka won't be as much of a problem. He glanced at Kasumi and noticed that she disappeared.

_'Probably still upset.' _He thought, slightly dejected. _'She didn't have to be that upset about me…' _He was about to go and find her when Yuuki and an ecstatic Haruka came up to him.

"Dude, we're going to be on the same team! How awesome is that?" Yuuki cheered.

"It's really awesome." Satoshi agreed. "Hey, did you see where Kasumi-san went?"

"Oh, you mean that fighter? I think she went outside…why you ask?" Haruka answered.

"Well, she's on our team…and we really didn't get a get a good first impression so…"

"Yeah, I remember that!" Yuuki exclaimed. "You're the guy that got his butt kicked this morning!"

Satoshi slumped forward slightly. "I wouldn't go as far as to say that…" That's when he got an idea. "Say, when we find her, why don't we all go out somewhere?"

"Cool, let me find her for ya." Yuuki said, disappearing in a flash.

"Wow." Satoshi breathed, surprised. "That was pretty quick."

Haruka nodded. "He may be a bit weird, but he is one of the best ninjas of his class. He should be able to find her in no time." Right when she finished, Yuuki tapped on Satoshi's shoulder from behind, making him almost jump out of his skin. The mage grinned. "See what I mean?"

"I found her. She's in the girl's locker room. We should go and meet her there." Satoshi and Haruka gave him a scrutinizing glance. "…What?"

"Yuuki…?" Haruka started, raising an eyebrow. "Exactly how did you find out that she was in the locker room?"

Sweating nervously, Yuuki changed the subject. "Err, that's not important. Come on, if we just stand around here, we're going to miss her." Quickly, Yuuki escaped, with Haruka in hot pursuit.

"You still didn't explain how you found out! Get back here!"

Satoshi followed them, pondering how he got into this mess.

After some heavy convincing, Kasumi reluctantly agreed to go out with them. They decided to stop by a restaurant and get to know each other.

"So, how did you two become friends?" Kasumi asked them.

"Well, it must've been around ten years ago, during my first year in Arcadia…." Haruka began to reminisce.

_A five year old Haruka sat alone at a lunch table while she ate her mother's famous donuts. She didn't have any friends to share with since she wasn't very popular, but at least she got to keep it all for herself. When she was about to eat the last one, it disappeared right in front of her eyes! She was surprised, and angry. No one stole her donuts and got away with it!_

"_Cool, I scored a donut!" A young boy exclaimed gleefully. Haruka saw the donut in the boy's hands and chased after him._

"_Hey! Give me back my donut!" She demanded. The boy stuck his tongue at her._

"_No way! Try and take it!" And the chase was on. After a few minutes of running, she caught up to the boy and beat him senseless, grabbing her donut back._

"_Gotcha you little thief!" She proclaimed proudly._

"_Wow." The boy said, amazed. "I never met anyone who could catch me, you're pretty fast!"_

_Haruka, surprised with his attitude, stared at him oddly. "Uh…thanks?" The boy stood up, dusting himself off._

"_Well, don't think you've won yet!" The boy said. "For I, __Odamaki__ Yuuki, super ninja boy, will get that donut one of these days. You'll see!" Fueled by the thrill of competition, Yuuki ran away, leaving the girl baffled._

'_What an odd little boy…'_

_Ever since, Yuuki had made an appearance every single day throughout the years, doing everything he could to get her donuts, or anything he felt had some means of value. He managed to steal pencils, erasers, books, and many other little things of hers, but by the end of the day, she would find the stuff he stole on her bed. Of course, he would always brag about it the next day. For Yuuki however, those were only practice for the biggest prize of all, the donuts. It was the one thing he could never successfully steal. No matter how hard he tried, he would never be able to steal her donut and keep it. _

_It had gotten to the point where she would always expect him to show up and try to take her stuff. Sometimes, he would hang around and do things to make her laugh, like pulling down a teacher's pants and getting chased for it. The oddest time he tried to steal from her was when she was in the girl's locker room. He didn't get, nor cared, about the principle behind a boy going into the girl's locker room. It was that one day, when everything changed…_

_A fourteen year old Yuuki crawled through the air ducts in order to find his prey. It was a warm summer day, so the air ducts were very cool. He memorized Haruka's schedule, and according to her schedule, she should be in the girl's locker room. He grinned sneakily as he continued to creep through the air duct._

'_Today's the day.' He thought to himself. 'Today, I'm going to get those donuts!' _

_It was a thrilling experience for him. All of the chases, and bruises, helped him throughout his years of training at the school. Thanks to Haruka's brutal attacks whenever he failed, he managed to be able to recover with god like speed, and his speed and tactics became better and better each day. He knew that she wouldn't expect him to come through an air duct, to the girl's locker room of all places, so he made it a mission to surprise her and grab the big prize._

_In vice versa, he had also helped Haruka out a lot. He would always keep her company, and give her a run for her money –sometimes literally-. She had also become quite strong and capable with her magic. Well who wouldn't become strong after beating the life out of him time and time again? In a strange way, it was a weird friendship whereas they help keep each other company, one way or another._

_After a minute more, he made it to the girl's locker room. He came at the perfect time because all of the girls just arrived, starting to get undress. He wasn't paying attention to them because he knew his target was around here somewhere. There, he found his target! Haruka, unknown to his presence, started taking off her clothes, soaked in sweat from her workouts and in her undergarments. Yuuki froze in place, gawking at her like an idiot. He looked down to notice that he was having a nosebleed. He wiped it off and shook his head furiously._

'_The mission. Can't forget about the mission…' He reminded himself. He looked to see that all of the girls except Haruka and two others left. The two other girls approached Haruka and to his surprise, shoved her against a locker._

"_Alright Haruka…" One of the bullies barked. "Where's the money?"_

_Haruka was petrified. She knew those two girls. They would always bully her into giving them money or doing things she didn't want to do. Today however, she was out of luck._

"_I…I don't have it…" This made one of the girls grin evilly._

"_You do know what happens when you don't make your daily payments, right?" the other girl cracked her knuckles, causing Haruka to whimper._

_She was in tears at this point, shutting her eyes tightly. "I-I'm sorry…please don't hurt me, I promise to pay you tomorrow, honest!" One of the girls punched her hard in the stomach, causing her to double over on her knees._

"_Well we don't care! It's time to get what's coming to you, hehehe…"_

_Yuuki watched them bully and beat her up. He was enraged, way pass the red line. He broke through the gate and dropped down, startling the two bullies and a bruised Haruka. His red eyes glowed ominously, glaring at them murderously. He bared his fangs at them and clenched his throbbing fist. His voice deepened with malice, but it was nowhere near as deep as the hatred he had for those two bullies._

_They were going to pay._

"_If you lay your filthy hands on her one more time…I will KILL YOU!" Yuuki told them venomously. The girls flinched, but stood their ground._

"_So, a peeping tom is trying to play hero huh?" One of them laughed. "Look, kid. We don't care what you say; we will do whatever we want with her. So why don't you just go run along. Or better yet…you can watch us punish her!" The girl was about to stomp on Haruka, but in a flash, he was in her face, surprising her. His eyes glowed demonically, frightening the bully._

"_I warned you fools…" Yuuki jumped and kneed her in the face, following up with a downward punch, knocking her down on the ground. The other bully took out her sword, holding it in front of her and positioned it for attack._

"_Take this!" She charged at them, the sword held high. When she made a downward slash, it connected, but she hit a log of wood instead of Yuuki._

"_Wha—ack!"_

"_Don't…move…" Yuuki warned her, holding a dagger to her neck from behind. _

_The other girl recovered and was about to grab her sword when a line of ninja shurikens locked down the sword and her clothes, pinning her to the ground. She was about to try something when Yuuki's ninja sword was inches away from splitting her skull in half._

"_Now…" Yuuki thought out loud, causing them to tremble with fear. "Which one of you should I kill first…?" The bullies started to bawl._

"_P-Please don't kill us ninja-san! We won't hurt her again, honest!" This made him even madder._

"_Don't lie to me!" He snapped, causing them to shiver. "I know that as soon as I let you go, you are not going to learn your lesson. People like you sicken me!" Yuuki brought to dagger to the other girl's neck, causing a line of blood to trickle down her throat. "Prepare to die!"_

"_Yuuki, NO!" Haruka cried, surprising him._

"_But Haruka-san, these girls are only going to hurt you again…they deserve to perish!"_

"_I know they're bad, but…but they're my sisters." This shocked him, making him despise them even more. "Please Yuuki…don't do it…I beg of you…" She started to cry, making him soften a bit._

"…_Fine, you two may live. But remember this…she saved your life. If it wasn't for her, you would've been dead minutes ago." He released both of them. Fearing that he might change his mind, they apologized to Haruka and ran away. When they were gone, Yuuki returned to his normal self and walked towards her, but she shifted away from him. He couldn't understand why she was running away from him. He reached his hand out to her, but she curled up to a ball, frightened by Yuuki's previous attitude. He could feel her fear. Dejected and saddened, Yuuki back away slowly._

"_I'm…I'm sorry Haruka-san. I…I didn't mean to scare you like that…" He heard foots steps approaching. He jumped back into the vent and escaped before the teacher came in._

_Within the stealth of the vent, he saw Haruka being escorted by some nurses and officials. At least she was going to be well taken care of. Now he had only one thing to do…_

_By the end of the day, Haruka came back home, still shaken up by her sisters assault. She was expecting them to ambush her, but to her surprise, they weren't home. As she inspected the house, she noticed that their things were gone too. Surprised, Haruka looked for her mother. When she found her, she was sitting on a couch, waiting for her._

"_Haruka, come here." Her mother requested. She walked over and sat next to her. Her mother gave her a stern look. "Why didn't you tell me that your sisters were abusing you?" She scolded. Haruka gasped in surprise._

"_How did you know?"_

"_Well, before your sisters came home, Yuuki passed by and gave me a tape. I thought it was a bit perverted at first, but it showed them bullying you. As soon as I saw that, I packed up their stuff and sent them away. I told your father about the situation and he handled all of the issues with the school and law enforcements. You won't need to worry about them anymore!" She held Haruka gently, stroking her hair while she released soft tears. "You should thank him when you see him next time. He may be a bit…different, but I think he is a wonderful and trustworthy boy."_

_Haruka thought about her words. He definitely was different, but he did save her. He could've got hurt, or even killed, but he stuck out his neck for her. He may've been scary, but she treated him unfairly. She didn't see him all day after that, and that made her feel guilty. A thought crossed her mind. No matter what happened, he was always around. When she never had friends, in his own weird way, he was there for her. Never, had she felt more grateful towards anyone, and they weren't even officially friends!_

_But that gave her an idea…_

"_Mom…can you do me a favor?"_

_The next day, Yuuki sat on a concrete stairwell, feeling down over what happened yesterday. He was just trying to help. What else could he have done?_

'_Maybe…I went a little too far…' He thought, cursing himself. He sighed despairingly, propping himself up with his arms. 'Now she's going to be afraid of me…' A warn pair of arms wrapped around him, surprising him. He could recognize those arms anywhere._

"_H-Haruka-san?" He was confused, yet curious. "But I thought…" Her cheek brushed his as she rested her chin on his shoulder, making him blush._

"_I'm sorry Yuuki…" She whispered. "I was just…so scared at first. Everything was happening so fast that I couldn't handle it. But, thanks for saving me…"_

_Yuuki softened, feeling comfortable and less apprehensive. "It-it's no problem. I was just glad I could help. Sorry I scared you." She nuzzled closer to him._

"_No need to be sorry, I'm the one who should be sorry. Luckily, I have a surprise for you."_

_He felt something drop on his lap. When he looked down, he gasped in surprise. He couldn't believe his eyes!_

"_It's…it's…" He picked it up, too shocked for words. Haruka backed away and smiled, knowing what was coming. "It's the donut! Yes! Yes! Yes! I finally got it! Yahoo!" He danced around happily, with the wondrous donut in hand. Haruka couldn't hold back any longer. She doubled over from laughing so hard. When he took a bite of it, his eyes lit up like fireworks. "These are the best donuts EVER!"_

"_I'm glad you like it." Haruka said, still laughing. After a few more seconds of dancing, he ate the rest and smirked._

"_Just so you know. I'm still going to steal those donuts from you fair and square."_

"_Then…why don't we do it as friends?" _

_Yuuki looked at her confused. "Friends?"_

"_It won't mean I will treat you differently than before, but…at least we could be friends at the same time." She extended her hand towards him. "So…friends?" _

_He nodded, grasping her hand without hesitation. "Friends." _

"…And that's the story." Haruka finished.

"That's so cool." Satoshi praised. "I can't believe you went through all of that trouble just for a donut."

Yuuki waggled his finger at him. "Once you've tasted it, you will eat your words...err, no pun intended." He stated matter-of-factly. "But nonetheless, that's how we became friends."

"That may've been odd, but that was still sweet of you two." Kasumi complimented. She looked at Satoshi and groaned slightly. If she was going to be in his group, she might as well be on friendly terms. "So Satoshi-san, tell us a little about yourself."

Satoshi stared at her strangely. "About me?"

"Sure, you seem like an interesting guy...sort of." Kasumi nodded, forcing herself to smile.

"Well, let's see…I live with my brother…I'm a Class B samurai…I, err…" He wasn't exactly the type to talk about himself. It was pretty uncomfortable.

"Boo!" Yuuki interrupted. "Tell us something cool, like battling a harem of sexy robots or something!"

Haruka smacked him on the head with her wand. "Don't be so rude!" She turned her attention to Satoshi. "Wait, what happened to your parents?"

"I…I don't know. I don't even know what they look like."

"Oh, I sorry, I didn't know." Haruka apologized. Kasumi glanced sympathetically at him.

They were two of a kind.

Satoshi waved it off. "Nah, it's alright. I've gotten over it. Besides, I at least have my brother. But enough about that, it's getting late so I should be going. I'll see you guys tomorrow." Satoshi waved goodbye as he went back to his dorm.

"Satoshi-kun is pretty decent." Haruka said, watching his departing form.

"Tch, yeah right." Kasumi retorted, drinking her soda. She eyed the magician slyly. "You like him don't you?"

"Err…well…" Haruka stuttered, earning a smirk from Kasumi.

"Of course she does." Yuuki answered for her. Haruka gaped at him in surprise.

"You knew?"

"Yeah, it's pretty obvious. I mean, he's a very cool guy." Yuuki shrugged. "You know, I like him too."

There was a long pause. Both girls stared at him weirdly.

"Yuuki…is there something you want to tell us?" Haruka asked fearfully.

He looked back and forth between them, confused by the looks they were giving him. "No, why would there be?"

A longer pause followed.

"…Never mind." Both girls sighed. Talk about dense…

Kasumi stood up, exhausted with the day's charades. "I think I'm going to call it a night. See ya tomorrow."

"Later!" When Haruka saw Kasumi leave, she immediately turned to Yuuki. She grabbed his shirt and gave him a frightening gaze. "Now…would you like to tell me what you were doing in the girl's locker room in the first place? And why you had a video of me getting dressed?"

Yuuki started to sweat bullets. "Well, err…I often have spy cameras equipped so that I can memorize enemy patterns and moves. I video tape you often so I can plan my next move, honest!"

"Okay…then answer this…" She brought him closer, making him fear for his life. It was her voice that scared him the most. "…Do you still have that tape of me getting undressed?"

He swallowed hard, laughing nervously. "Um…ehehehehe…about that…funny story…"

The sound of an earth shattering slap could be heard from miles.

Bystanders glanced at the two to see Haruka storm off angrily, red in the face. Yuuki however, laid sprawled on the ground, with a red hand imprint on his cheek and a dazed expression. He was knocked out…cold. A few kids approached him, poking him with a stick to see whether he was still alive.

Later that night, Satoshi settled on his bed. Going into his secret compartment, he pulled out a red book that red "Journal" in bold letters. He opened to the first page and began to write.

_Dear Journal_

_3/8/2015_

_Mood: exhausted_

_I decided to start a fresh journal since I'm starting a new and final year at Arcadia. Today had to be one of the craziest days of my life! First, I woke up late thanks to that stupid alarm clock (note to self: buy a new one), then I had a run-in with this one girl. A brown belt fighter named Kasumi tried to beat the crap outta me just for running into her! We fought a little until a friend of hers stopped her. I would've stayed if I wasn't late for class (and no, that is not the same as running away). During my first class, she had to sit right next to me! How freaky is that? Although she lent me her notes, she still seemed angry at me. But that's not even the weirdest part…_

_This next bunch really threw me in a loop. A ninja named Yuuki nearly had me killed! He was being chased by a magician named Haruka and dragged me into it. I nearly became French toast all because he stole a donut from her (I kid you not, this girl was WAY too protective over her donuts! And don't get me started on ninja boy…). I gotta admit, they were pretty cool (and hilarious). During my last class, I found out that I was paired with those two nut jobs (kidding, but seriously, they are crazy). And you wanna know who my last partner is?__ Yawa__ freakin __Kasumi__, that's who! She doesn't seem all that bad when she's calm, but she goes berserk when she's angry. And they said the theory about red heads was a myth…_

_Oh yeah, I had that dream again. You know, it's the one with the evil samurai I was fighting against. That Yuuki guy looked exactly like him (except for that evil look and his clothes). It's such a creepy coincidence, but I can't help but feel a weird vibe from him. Oh well, it's probably just my imagination._

_Anyway, tomorrow's an interesting day because we're going to get a special surprise! I wonder what it is. Man I'm beat. I think I'm going to hit the sack. Good night!_

_Signing off,_

_Satoshi Tajiri

* * *

_

That's the end of chapter one. I hope you enjoy reading this!

Here are the ages:

Satoshi – 16

Shigeru – 18

Kasumi – 16

Yuuki – 16

Haruka – 15

If anyone can get the victory joke, you get a cookie. I know some of you are wondering "Is this going to be an AAMayL?" but all I can say is…wait and see… (Insert sinister laughter).

Oh, and I apologize if that red head comment offended anyone (I didn't mean to, honest!).

Review and catch ya laterz!


	2. A battle royale

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon! Don't make me be evil about it!

* * *

Satoshi's weary eyes fluttered open, woken from his slumber. When he glanced at the clock, he frowned._ 'Great…half past midnight…'_

He got up and got himself dressed. It didn't look like he was going to fall back asleep anytime soon. Quietly, he left the dorm and walked to the courtyard. He looked up at the stars and smiled. It was simply stunning. The breeze was terrific, and the temperature was perfect for a midnight stroll. Finding nothing better to do, he walked around the courtyard.

After a few minutes, he came across a park. The school may have been centered on fighting, but it was also one of the most beautiful places on Gaetia, especially at night. Flowers bloomed everywhere and lights were posted at many romantic hot spots. Satoshi strolled along a paved path, taking in the sights.

When he came across a pair of swings, he noticed someone sitting on a swing alone. There were many couples who took romantic walks around this time, but what would someone be doing on a swing by himself? He approached cautiously, trying not to alert the person to his presence. Upon closer inspection, he made a startling discovery.

_'What's Kasumi-san doing here?'_ Driven by curiosity, Satoshi got closer at her. She looked so sad, sitting on a swing by herself. His heart went out to her. No one should have to be so alone. He came close enough so that he was behind her. She didn't seem to have noticed him yet. He heard her sniff a little. _'Had she been…crying?'_ It blew him away. The girl seemed so strong that he didn't think anything could make her cry. What could be wrong with her?

"Kasumi-san?" He spoke softly. She jumped and whipped around, wiping the evidence from her eyes.

"What are you doing here?" She asked. Her eyes narrowed into slits. "You're not stalking me are you?"

_'Jeez, what kind of guy does she think I am?' _He thought incredulously. "No, I just couldn't sleep. What are you doing here?"

"Not that it's any of your business, but I always come here." She huffed stubbornly.

_'Man, cut me some slack would ya?'_ He walked to the swing next to her and sat there. She eyed him oddly.

"Why are you sitting there?"

"Not everyone needs a motive for sitting down you know." He told her smartly, making her smile slightly.

"Okay, okay. You don't have to be smart about it."

They both sat in a comfortable silence, gazing at the crescent moon.

"Say…" Satoshi started, breaking the silence. "Why are you so angry at me? I know it couldn't be just because I ran into you."

"For your information, I am mean to everyone, not just you."

"Well, why weren't you mean to that girl, Furuura-san?" He mentally slapped himself for such a dumb question. She was her friend for Balicula's sake!

"Furuura-chan is a good friend of mine from way back. What's it to you?"

"I'm just curious!" He defended. _'Just what is her problem? I asked a simple question and she attacked it. There's got to be a reason, and I am going to find out!'_

"Curiosity killed the cat." She told him warningly.

He shuddered at her implication. _'Why do I get the feeling she isn't really talking about a cat?' _He yawned tiredly, sleep beginning to overtake him. He was about to leave when he noticed that she'd fallen asleep. _'That has got to be the record for the world's fastest sleeper. The poor thing must've come here half asleep.'_ A sense of duty overtook him, feeling as if it was his responsibility to help her out. Shrugging helplessly, he picked her up, cradling her so that she was comfortable. _'Wow, she's amazingly light.' _He thought.

He took a minute to take a glimpse of her, being his first –and probably last- time he would ever be that close to her face. The moonlight struck her sleeping form. His eyes widened in surprise.

_'She's…gorgeous…' _He thought, amazed. For over a minute, he continued to gaze at her, his mind going completely blank. It wasn't anything like love he felt for her, but more like appreciation for someone's beauty. Breaking his frozen gaze, he took it upon himself to take her home.

Carefully, he searched for her keys and opened the door to her apartment. As he stepped in, he noticed four rooms, each with a name plate on them. He continued until he found Kasumi's room. Entering the room, he found it different than how he had envisioned it. There was battling equipment everywhere. Plush toys and books laid on the floor and dresser. Her feathered bed was neatly made for her. The baby blue bed spread had ocean waves on it.

_'Interesting mix of girl…and tomboy…'_ he mused. He was about to lay her on the bed when she wrapped her arms around him tightly, making him redden. It looked like she was afraid of being let go of. _'Besides being light, she's also warm…'_ After a couple of tries, he successfully got her to bed. When Satoshi pulled the covers over her, he was about to exit when something caught his eye.

_'…a diary?'_ His hand hesitantly reached for it. Did he really want to violate the privacy of a girl who he barely knew? What if she were to wake up right then? There would be hell to pay. He decided against it at the last minute. He left the book where it was and exited her room. Closing the door carefully, he sighed aloud.

"…Maybe I can find out later…"

"Find out what?" A female voice asked.

"EEP!" He squeaked in surprise. This woman must've been her sister, the resemblance evident. The lady twirled her long blonde hair as her cerulean eyes leered at him suspiciously. He assumed her name was Sakura, considering that her door was the only one open.

Sakura's narrowed her eyes at him threateningly. "Are you stalking my little sister or something? Because if you are…"

"Nononono, I am not a stalker!" He defended, still spooked. _'Hello! Do I look like a stalker?' _He then thought about his situation. _'…Okay…maybe it does look a little suspicious.'_

"I bet your lying!" The blonde accused.

"No, really! I'm Tajiri Satoshi! I'm in Kasumi-san's team!" He whispered so he didn't wake everyone up. Sakura relaxed her guard.

"Oh, so you're the guy she's been talking about…" She pondered out loud. That caught his interest.

"She's been talking about me?"

"Oh, it's nothing much…" She waved off. "She mostly goes on about how careless and goody-goody you are."

Satoshi sighed hopelessly. _'I'm never gonna catch a break with her…'_

"What are you doing in my sister's room?"

"I saw her in the park. We talked for a little bit, but then she conked out on me." He explained. Sakura nodded and smiled.

"Well that was pretty sweet of you. Thanks for looking out for her."

"Nah, it's no biggie." He waved off modestly.

"Actually, yes it is." She spoke seriously, catching his attention.

"It is?"

"You see…Kasumi-chan never really had any guy friends. She's had the worst luck with men you could imagine."

"You mean old boyfriends and stuff like that?"

"If only it was just that…" Satoshi stared at her, urging her to continue. "I'm sorry, but I cannot tell you more. It's really personal."

_'Sakura looks really sad.'_ Satoshi noted._ 'Whatever happened to her must've been serious. Better not press her on the subject.'_

"Its okay, I understand." He reassured her. "Could I ask you one question?"

"I bet I know what it is." She guessed. "You're wondering why she's been so mean to you right?" Satoshi nodded. "You should count yourself lucky. Most other guys she would've pounded into oblivion by now. For her, the nicer a guy is to her, the meaner she gets. But don't worry about it too much. It will take some time, and possibly a few bruises, but she will learn to befriend you. You're a really nice guy aren't you? Worrying over her like that."

"Well…I…err…" He stuttered, being embarrassed.

She giggled lightly. "And you're cute too!" Satoshi reddened noticeably, making her giggle more. "Well anyway, I don't wanna keep you, so go ahead. I will look after her." Satoshi nodded and left to his apartment. When she closed the door, she smiled warmly. "He's a keeper. Don't lose him little sister…" Yawning tiredly, the eldest sister retreated to her room to get some sleep.

Later in the morning, Kasumi woke up to the blare of her alarm clock. Turning it off, she gave herself an extra minute to reclaim her senses.

_'Wait a minute…wasn't I at the park earlier this morning?'_ She remembered meeting Satoshi and gasped. Slightly panicked, she checked her clothes and belongings. Sure enough, everything was in place. _'I must've been dreaming then…'_ She concluded.

After getting dressed, Kasumi went to the dinning room to eat breakfast. During breakfast, she noticed that her three sisters were smirking and sniggering. Two irritable minutes later, Kasumi had it.

"Alright! What's going on here?" She interrogated. Her sisters started to chuckle conspicuously, making her more irritated.

"Kasumi-chan, like when were you going to tell us?" Her blue haired sister, Ayame, asked.

Kasumi was baffled. "Tell you what?"

"Like you don't know?" Her pink haired her sister known as Botan inquired slyly. "You should've told us that you had a boyfriend!"

Kasumi fell out of her chair in astonishment.

"WHAT?" Her voice boomed. "HAVE YOU ALL FINALLY LOST YOUR MINDS?"

They couldn't hold it in any longer. Loud laughter filled the room.

"Does Satoshi-kun ring a bell?" The blonde questioned. That took her by surprise.

"How do you know him?" Kasumi stared at her in bewilderment.

"According to what I heard, you two were getting all chummy with each other and you fell asleep on him. That's when he _carried_ you _all_ the way back to your own room. He was even nice enough to tuck you in!" Sakura recalled. Kasumi's sister cooed at the cuteness, making Kasumi even more embarrassed, and breathless.

"Did he really do that…for me?" Kasumi breathed, stunned by this revelation.

"Yep! I saw him myself! It was so cute how he was all worried about you." Sakura giggled before continuing. "You know, he really is different from all the other guys. I think you should give him a chance. And from the looks of it, I think he's single…" She said the last part impishly, making Lilly and Violent coo in response.

"It will be a cold day in hell before I go out with him!" Kasumi stated, finishing her breakfast and making haste for the door.

"Then she better wear a jacket…" Ayame joked, causing them all to laugh.

When Kasumi left the apartment, she leaned against the door, still in disbelief. No guy was ever that nice to her…ever. She was mean and brutal to him, and he carried her home? And what's more, he was fretted over her?

That didn't add up.

And that's what touched her the most: Unparalleled benevolence.

_'I guess…I can start with him…'_ Kasumi thought, a little hopeful. She only took a step forward when she cursed aloud. "I forgot my books!" Her hand landed on the door knob when she froze, remembering a certain group of teasing sisters.

Curse them and their torturous ways.

"Well…I guess I can go one day without books…" She sighed, defeated. Kasumi made her way to her first class.

Prepared and ready for school, Satoshi used his house phone to call his teammates. Kasumi had already left when he called, and Haruka agreed to walk with him to class, meaning Yuuki was left. He dialed the number and waited for the rings. On the third ring, a tired voice answered. He recognized it as Yuuki.

"Hello?" He yawned over the mouth piece.

"Hey, it's me, Satoshi!"

"Hey man! What can I do for ya?"

"Well, I called Haruka-san earlier was wondering if we could swing by your house for pick up."

"Err, no, that's alright. I'll just see you in class."

"It's just around the corner man, come on…"

"Look, it's alright, really! I'll just see you in class."

"Are you sure? Because we can easily just—"

"I SAID NO!" Yuuki screamed, extreme aggravation in his voice.

Satoshi flinched from the yell. "Yuuki-kun…? Are you alright?"

Yuuki immediately caught his mistake. "My bad, I didn't mean to yell. Hey, look at the time! Gotta get to class, later!" Satoshi could hear the click, signaling the end of the conversation.

Satoshi blinked, surprise by that momentary change on tone. _'Why was he so against me coming over? Is it really that bad over there?'_ He was about to pick up his backpack when he froze in place, his eyes widened. _'Wait a minute…it couldn't be…' _The sound of the door bell jarred him out of his thoughts. He shook his head. "Nah, it couldn't be."

"Sato-kun! You have a guest!" Shigeru called out.

"Coming!" Making sure not to leave anything behind, he made his way to the front door. When he arrived, he saw Haruka waiting for him, bouncing happily while Shigeru gave him a sly look.

"Sato-kun, you dog!" Shigeru teased, patting him on the back. "Cute girls coming to your door? I knew you would grow up some day. Kids these days grow up so fast…" He wiped a fake tear from his eyes, making Satoshi redden from embarrassment.

"Niichan!" Satoshi yelled. "It's not like that!"

Shigeru leaned in to whisper. "…She's a bit odd, and hyper, but she'll do…go get her tiger!" He winked at him. Satoshi reddened further, realizing exactly what he meant.

"Knock it off already!" Satoshi demanded, making Shigeru laugh.

"Ah relax, I'm just teasing you! See ya tomorrow morning!" He gave him another wink.

Satoshi quickly ran out the door, grabbing Haruka by her hand. Outside, he let go of a flushed Haruka, aggravated by his brother's suggestive jokes.

_'He held my hand…I can't believe he held it!' _Haruka thought excitedly, getting giddy.

"Stupid niichan and his jokes…" Satoshi pouted.

"Oh come on, I thought it was pretty funny."

"Yeah, if you're the one watching…" He muttered under his breath. "So, what classroom am I dropping you off at?"

"Yours silly." She giggled.

"No way, so you have both of my classes?" Haruka nodded. "That's so cool."

"Yeah, I think so too!" Feeling bold, Haruka decided to ask him a question. She twiddled her fingers nervous and blushed. "Um…S-Satoshi-kun?"

"Yes?"

She swallowed, trying to get the words out. "I-I was wondering, are you busy today?"

"No, not at all. Why?"

"Because…I was wondering if…well…if you not busy…then…maybe…we can hang out…together?"

Satoshi smiled at her. "Sure, I was thinking the same thing."

Haruka's eyes lit up with joy. "Really?" Satoshi nodded.

"Yeah, all four of us can hang out together like last time." A loud slam followed the statement. Satoshi stared at her inquisitively. "Why did you fall like that?"

Haruka got off the ground and sighed. _'I should've known he wouldn't get it…'_ Feeling extremely embarrassed, she got up quickly and laughed it off. "Whoops! I am such a klutz! Dumb rocks. Anyway, let's get to class." She ran off ahead, leaving him perplexed.

_'Funny…I don't see any rocks…'_ He shrugged and continued to his class.

When Satoshi arrived, he saw that most of the students were already there, including Kasumi. _'You know, I should try being nice to her. It won't be all that bad, especially if I can help out somehow.' _With a new mission in mind, Satoshi confidently walked toward their table. On his way, he noticed Haruka, but she seemed really frustrated about something. What caught his attention was the chatter of some nearby students.

"Hey, did you hear?" One of the students said. "An arsonist has been messing up the school. I heard that the samurai dojo was totally trashed."

"Yeah, I also heard that these attacks have been pretty frequent ever since recently. They say that it was the work of some rebellious ninja."

Satoshi stopped for a moment, listening to their conversation.

"It's known that these attacks have been happening during the early mornings. I think they said that the criminal had white hair, and was extremely fast."

_'White hair…' _Satoshi pondered. At that moment, a certain white haired ninja walked through the doors, yawning tiredly. Most of the students glanced at him. The room suddenly got eerily quiet.

"Morning guys…" Yuuki rubbed his eyes, trying to get himself awake. Satoshi noted that his clothes seemed ruffled and dirty. Some of the students glared at him. Sensing danger, Yuuki spotted the leering students and blinked. "Err…is something wrong?" A girl shot up from her chair, pointing at him.

"I bet you're the arsonist that's been running around aren't you?" The girl accused.

"Yeah, come to think of it, everyone said there was a ninja with white hair. You fit the description better than anyone else!"

"Wait…I'm an arso-what?" Yuuki became alert. This wasn't looking good for him.

"Now you wait just a minute!" Haruka defended, standing in front of Yuuki. "You guys are just pointing fingers. One description fits him and you all are ready to torch him! Do you even have proof?" One student boldly stood against them.

"Yes. First of all, look how tired he is! And his clothes are all dirty! It's bloody obvious!"

"Yeah, let's get him expelled!" Another student called.

"I bet she's been helping him, that's why she's defending him! They've known each other for years. Everyone knows that!"

"Haruka-chan, it's okay." Yuuki told her sadly. "I don't want you to get involved in this." Haruka shook her head.

"No way!" She denied. "I've known you for too long, so I know for a fact that you would never do such a thing!"

"Haruka-chan…" Yuuki gazed at her, grateful.

"Alright, that's enough of all of you!" A voice boomed from behind. Mathisu walked in, clasping Haruka and Yuuki's shoulders. "If you are going to convict someone, make sure you have _solid_ proof. You can point fingers and yap all day long, but if your proof isn't concrete, than you will wind up locking up the wrong guy. I've known Yuuki-kun ever since he started this school. Yes, he can be a trouble maker, but he's not an arsonist. I'll tell you what; I will handle this situation myself!" He declared, shocking everyone. He turned to Yuuki. "Yuuki-kun, I know this is unfair, but until I can prove you innocent, I am going to have to place you under my supervision."

"Wait Mathisu-sensei!" Satoshi called. "Yuuki-kun is in my team, so I will assume responsibility and watch over him myself!"

Haruka stood by his side. "I'm with Yuuki-kun as well, so I will help with the investigation!

The instructor held his chin in thought. "I don't know…"

Some of the students still weren't convinced. That is until Kasumi stood beside Satoshi, making everyone gasp.

"You guys are a bunch of morons. Otherwise, you would know that Yuuki-kun is too stupid to even know what an arsonist is!"

Yuuki fell over animatedly.

"Are you defending me or insulting me?" He exasperated.

Kasumi crossed her arms. "All three of us will watch over Yuuki-kun and make a thorough investigation. Any objections?" No one answered, not even the teacher. "Good!"

Yuuki became teary eyed. "You guys…"

"Alright, now that that's settled, its time to begin class!"

During the session, Satoshi noticed that Kasumi didn't have any books and grinned.

"What were you saying about me being scatter brained yesterday?"

Kasumi, catching on to him, was about to retort harshly when she stopped herself. _'Remember…give him a chance. He's obviously joking with you so just…smile…'_ She forced herself to smile, which turned out to be scarier than intended.

_'Uh oh, looks like she's ready to kill me!' _Satoshi laughed uneasily. He decided to stay quiet, shifting his notebook so that they could share.

Break time soon rolled around, giving them ample time to come up with a capture plan."So what's our plan of action?" Kasumi asked.

"First, we need to prove that Yuuki-kun isn't the arsonist." Satoshi suggested. "Yuuki-kun, we have to investigate your house to make sure you have nothing."

Yuuki was about to object when he remembered his situation. It was required that they searched his house, and he would rather have his friends check his house than some investigator.

There would be way too many questions.

"Alright…" He answered reluctantly. After they ate, the gang walked over to Yuuki's house. Before he opened the door, he stopped and turned around. "Um, Haruka-chan? I know this will sound bad, but is it okay if you can stay outside?"

"What? Why can't I come in?"

"I…I just can't. I'm sorry."

"It's alright Haruka-san." Satoshi assured. "Kasumi-san and I will check out the house for you, alright?"

Haruka was disheartened, but nodded. "Okay…" The three went inside the apartment. Curious, Haruka leaned her ear against the door.

She recalled many times before that she tried to enter his home, but he wouldn't let her inside. He would always come over her house, sometimes he even stayed over night, but she had never even seen the inside of his. One time, he got extremely upset when she touched the door knob. What could be so bad that he wouldn't want her to see?

"Oh. My. God." Kasumi gasped.

"What on Gaetia? This just isn't right!" Satoshi grimaced. Haruka was dying to see what was going on inside. She heard them search the apartment and Yuuki leading them. Several minutes later, they came out the door. Kasumi looked like she had seen a ghost, while Satoshi shook his head sadly.

_'Man…I didn't know it was that bad. Now I know I why he didn't want her inside. It would've been too much for them to bear…'_

"Was there anything?" Haruka asked, frightened by the tension.

"No, we didn't see anything." Satoshi told her. They heard the bell ring.

"Come on guys, let's go!" Yuuki said, perky as usual. Haruka noticed Satoshi and Kasumi's expressions. It was as if Yuuki's smile was merely a farce.

He was hiding something, and she was determined to find out.

Haruka pulled Satoshi back, letting everyone else go ahead to class. "Satoshi-kun, just exactly what was it you saw?" She demanded more than asked.

"Trust me, its nothing you would want to see." He told her just before going to class. She narrowed her eyes. There was no way it was just_ nothing_, and she was going to find out what it was.

The second class took place out on the training field. There were nine teams, each curious about what Hayabusa's special gift was. All the teams stood in a line up formation. In front of them were nine tables, each with a cloth over it. Hayabusa stood in the middle and faced his students.

"Welcome to training day." He greeted. "Today, we officially start training, but not without something special. Because of all the great things I've heard about you guys, I personally got these for you." He stripped off the cloth, revealing several red and white devices with a white button in the middle. There were eight marble-sized balls on each table. "These were just imported from our neighboring region, Hoenn. These are called Pokéballs. They're special containment devices that houses creatures called Pokémon."

"Pokémon? What's that?" Satoshi asked.

"Pokémon, short for pocket monsters, are creatures that are much more advanced than your average everyday animal. They're named as such since these devices makes them pocket sized. Pokémon possess special strengths and attributes that makes them supernatural. Though other countries battle with them, they are healed in facilities known as Pokémon centers. These will become your new partners according to your record. Each person will get two Pokémon each. Be warned that these creatures do have feelings, and if you treat them roughly, they will be confiscated, not to mention bite you in the butt. But…if you raise them correctly, they will become very invaluable, not to mention your best friends. Once again, I will hand them out. This region recently made these available to us, so make good use of it. Don't open them until I say otherwise."

One by one, Hayabusa gave each person two Pokéballs. When he was done, he cleared the field and stood back. "In order to release them, press the white button on the ball like so." The teacher took out his own Pokéball pressed the button, making it enlarge to the size of a baseball. "Pokéball go!" He called out, tossing the ball in the air. A flash of white escaped the ball. The light instantly took the form of a large blue dragon. All of the students stared in wonder.

"Sala!" It cried. Most of the students were afraid to go near it.

"This is a Pokémon known as Salamence. Don't worry; it won't harm you unless you are a complete moron and you give it a reason. Go ahead and release your Pokémon." All of the students tossed the ball in the air, release a wide variety of different Pokémon. Satoshi released his two first. The first Pokémon to come out was a light brown Pokémon with a skull for a helmet, carrying a bone as a weapon. The second one was a yellow mouse with a zigzag shaped tail.

"Marowak!" The first one called happily, greeting its new partner.

"How cool!" Satoshi exclaimed. The mouse however, didn't seem as pleased with his partner.

"Just so you know, Pokémon can only say their names so get used to it." Hayabusa stated.

Kasumi released hers, revealing an orange, yellow chick and a blue crocodile. Haruka's was a small humanoid Pokémon with green hair with a red horn, and a red fox with six curly tails. Yuuki's Pokémon consisted of a four foot mantis Pokémon with twin scythes, and a small grey insect Pokémon.

"Hey, they're pretty cute!" Kasumi and Haruka cooed, playing with their Pokémon.

"Mine are cool looking!" Yuuki boasted.

"This one's weird…" Satoshi commented, pointing to the yellow mouse.

_Twitch._

"What's this strange thing's name?" He poked at the Pokémon's head with his finger.

_Twitch, twitch._

"Why is he so quiet? Is something wrong with him?" He continued poking at it.

_CRUNCH!_

A large bead of sweat rolled down his teammates and Hayabusa's heads. Satoshi paled, his finger bitten by the peeved off creature. A few seconds later…

"Owowowowowow!" Satoshi danced around in excruciating pain, the mouse still hanging on. "Somebody get it off!" He tried to shake it off but to avail. The teacher laughed at his agony.

"That should teach you not to insult at a Pokémon." Hayabusa laughed.

"Pi…ka…" Satoshi glanced at it, wondering what it was trying to do. "CHU!" It cried. Suddenly, a large jolt of electricity shocked Satoshi.

"WAH!" The now extra crispy Satoshi fell over, twitching from the shock. "I…guess his name is Pikachu…" He coughed up smoke.

"Great deduction genius." Kasumi joked, earning a glare from the fallen samurai.

"Kasumi-chan…" The teacher called, getting on with the lesson. "You Pokémon's names are Torchic and Totodile. Haruka-chan, yours are Ralts and Vulpix. And Yuuki-kun, yours are Scyther and Nincada. Understood?" All three nodded. "Okay, now that introductions have been made, let's get some training done."

The day went from exciting to strenuous. Yuuki, Haruka, and Kasumi managed to get along with their Pokémon. Satoshi on the other hand had the hardest time trying to be friendly with Pikachu. It wouldn't even go in a Pokéball, so he gave up trying. After class, the team regrouped at the cafeteria, their Pokémon, still out of their balls, played with each other.

"Pokémon are really cool!" Haruka stated. "You would've never guessed that something like that existed." Everyone nodded, except Satoshi.

"I don't know. I mean mine wouldn't even give me a chance." He whined.

"Neither did I…" Kasumi muttered under her breath.

"Okay, I think we should get down to business. What are we going to do about the arsonist?"

"I wonder…" Yuuki pondered. He snapped his fingers when he got an idea. "How about we check out the samurai dojo? Perhaps there might be clues as to the identities of the real arsonist."

Satoshi nodded. "Alright, let's do that. Let's recall our Pokémon just in case." The four press the button on the balls, bringing the Pokémon back inside the ball and hooking it onto the Pokébelts that they acquired from class. Pikachu was the only one that remained outside its ball. The group proceeded to the samurai department of the sword arts.

When they arrived, it was just as bad as people said it was. Banners were destroyed, equipment damaged, the walls and tables were slashed, and paint was everywhere. The place was a wreck.

"Man, this is just terrible." Yuuki shook his head shamefully. "We have got to find these guys!"

"Alright, let's split up and see what we can find." And they did just that. As Satoshi began examining his part of the room, he saw the scratches on the tables. _'Wait a second…these aren't cuts from a ninja sword…they're from a samurai sword!'_

"Hey guys! I think I found something!" Yuuki called, getting everyone's attention. They all came to his area. "You guys see this here?" He crouched, showing them imprints on the ground. "They're foot prints here, but I can't see anything but samurai foot prints."

"There are samurai cut marks on the tables also. No mistaking it. Haruka, you're a magician, can you sense anything?"

"I'll try." Haruka closed her eyes and extended her wand. She spun in a complete circle twice and stood stock still. "…I can see something…traces of…an aero spell…someone was using wind magic here!"

"So…a samurai, ninja, and a mage were here? I wonder…" Kasumi held her chin in thought. "So only samurai marks could be found, but there are still traces of magic in the air…and people say that a ninja was sighted fleeing the scene…? That doesn't make much sense."

"Don't forget, it was also said that this was done during the morning." Satoshi reminded.

"Pika!" Pikachu exclaimed, sniffing the grounds.

"So you can still identify the scent Pikachu?" Satoshi asked.

"Pi!"

"Alright! So we got the culprits scent. All we need now is a plan to catch them!" Yuuki said.

"I think I have a plan." Satoshi stated. "Yuuki-kun, you're going to be look out for the arsonist. Haruka-san, you're the only one here who can keep up with him so you are going to keep an eye on him. Kasumi-san, you and I are going to be on the look out from another source. We'll all keep in contact by mini communicators. Our Pokémon will be able to help out too. Here's what we're gonna do…"

Later that night…

Satoshi woke up to the sound of his alarm clock.

_'Midnight…perfect.'_ He quickly got dressed and got his Pokéball and Pikachu.

"Sato-kun!" Shigeru called before he went out the door. Satoshi noticed that he was completely dressed, and carried two swords, a wooden and real one. "I'm coming too!"

"Thanks." Satoshi nodded, giving him a communicator and going out with him.

Haruka and Yuuki hid in a tree, scouting out for the criminals. The space was small so she had no choice but to be practically on him, holding onto his waist. Yuuki used his night vision goggles to look for the arsonist while Haruka had Vulpix and Ralts hide in the lower levels. Yuuki switched on his communicator that hung on his ear, speaking into the mouth piece.

"_Hey Sato-kun, its Yuuki. How's it looking from where you are?"_

"_Don't see anything yet. Where exactly are you?"_

"_I'm in the middle of the courtyard. What about you?"_

"_I'm inside the ninja arts department. Kasumi-san's in the martial arts department and my brother Shigeru-niichan is in the magic arts."_

"_You're brother's here too? Awesome! Isn't he a Class S graduate?"_

"_Yeah."_

"_Cut the chatter and keep focused!"_ Kasumi reprimanded. After an hour of waiting, she saw a small group of people run out of the dorms on her side. _"Targets spotted on my side. Commencing chase._" Kasumi followed them, making sure to keep out of sight.

"_Don't lose em'!"_ Yuuki told her.

"_Hmph, don't take me lightly."_

"_I see them! They are currently heading towards…the universal department!"_

"_Alright, remember the plan. I'm going to contact Kasumi-san and Shigeru-niichan. You two follow them and make sure they don't leave before we get there. Be careful and watch your back. I'm counting on you!"_ Satoshi turned off his communicator.

"Alright Haruka-chan, it's just you and me so let's do this!"

"Sure thing, but there's only one problem…how am I suppose to move?" She complained, failing to escape without falling down the 20 foot tree.

"Well…I guess we jump!" Without missing a beat, Yuuki grabbed Haruka by the waist and jumped off the tree. In mid-air, he saw that she was about to scream and cursed inwardly. _'Damn, if she screams, they will hear us for sure! I can't cover her mouth with my hands! What do I do now?'_ Her mouth opened, about to let out a blood curdling scream. Reacting on impulse, he did the only thing he could think of to silence her.

He kissed her.

When they landed, they shot away from each other, blushing madly.

"Um, sorry about that, but you were about to scream and my hands weren't free so…"

"No, it's alright, I understand." They both felt awkward until she punched him in the head. "But don't you EVER make me jump like that again! You almost gave me a heart attack!"

"My bad!" He apologized. "Come on, we're wasting time!" They both darted to the universal area.

Inside, five people snuck inside. Once they got to the gymnasium, they were about to trash the place when all of the doors closed, locking them in.

"Who's there?" One of them jumped. All the light flashed on, momentarily blinding them. They were surrounded by five people. "Who are you guys?" The leader demanded.

"We're the blades of justice that shall pass judgment!" Satoshi and Shigeru pulled out their swords, standing back to back.

"We're the holy fist of honor that shall crush you!" Kasumi performed a graceful jump kick and landed on one leg, standing in a battle stance.

"The forces of good shall overpower thy evil heart!" Haruka twirled her wand professionally, charging up her magical power.

"In the name of the moon, we shall punish you!" Yuuki whipped out his blade and pointed at them coolly. A baton flew out of the blue and smacked him in the head.

"Wrong line!" Haruka chastised, catching her recoiled baton. They grouped together, making a pose.

"Together, we're the power rangers!" There was a very long pause. Noticing the silence, they huddled together.

"…I don't know about that one. Isn't that taken?" Satoshi asked.

"Yeah, how about we try something else?" Shigeru suggested.

"Alright." They got back into formation again.

"Together, we're the—"

"Sailor scouts!" Yuuki shouted, causing his team to fall over in surprise.

"Yuuki-kun! Quit it!" Kasumi yelled. The team huddled together again. The criminals gawked at them oddly, a large bead of sweat rolling down there heads.

"Okay…why don't we give this one more shot?" Satoshi asked.

"Alright, for real this time!" Kasumi agreed. They got into another formation, Satoshi in front.

"Together, we're Team Tatsujin!"

The leader of the criminals, dumbfounded for a moment, shook his head. "So, you pipsqueaks are gonna try and stop us huh? Alright, let's get them!" The criminals split apart, going after the warriors.

The first one was the leader and an enemy samurai, taking on Shigeru and Satoshi respectively. Side by side, Shigeru and Satoshi gave alternate horizontal and vertical slashes at the enemy. The boss of the arsonist deflected Shigeru's attack and rammed him with his shoulder. Satoshi was about to assist his brother when the enemy samurai kept him at bay.

_CLACK! SLASH! MISS! CLACK! MISS! SLASH! CLACK! _

Their swords connected repeatedly. Satoshi and the swordsman were able to parry each other's attacks and counters.

_CLASH!_

Satoshi and the warrior were in a dead lock, glaring each other down. All in one swift move, Satoshi jumped up and knocked him in the head with the butt of his weapon. Stunned, the enemy was temporarily dazed. He was about to knock him out when he saw his brother battling and went to help him instead.

Using real swords, Shigeru pressured the boss with relentless slice attacks. The boss, nearing a wall, managed to deflect most of his attacks without fail. Shigeru made a powerful downward slash, but it missed. Using this to his advantage, the enemy leader attempted to strike him down, but fell for his trap. Slickly, Shigeru parried the attack with his sword. In mid spin, he took out his wooden sword and performed a low horizontal slash, successfully tripping him. Satoshi used the time gap to leap over Shigeru and injure the leader with a vertical slash. Though he managed to block it, the arsonist boss was slammed to the ground. The enemy samurai regained focus and charged wildly at the brothers. The Tajiris saw this attack coming, and knew exactly what to do. They leaned against each other, both of their wooden swords barely touching the wooden gym floor.

"X STRIKE!" They called out. Dragging their weapons along the ground, they blade rushed through the opponent. They zipped past the frozen stiff samurai; the only thing moving was the sudden rush of wind due to their speed. Professionally, they twirled their swords and sheathed it. As soon as the sound of their swords clicked, an X mark was ripped through the samurai's padded armor and along the ground. The wind followed the attack, adding extra damage. The samurai was defeated.

Next was a team battle, Yuuki and Haruka versus the mage and ninja. Yuuki zipped right and left towards the mage, fading off and on like a flickering shadow. The opposing magician couldn't target him with his magic attacks effectively, making him a dead target. Yuuki was about to strike him down when the enemy female ninja drop kicked him, sending him sliding across the waxed floor. Haruka conjured several fireballs and sent them their way. The other mage quickly set up a repulsion barrier, reflecting the attacks back at Haruka. She was about to get hit when Yuuki lunged and pushed her out of the way. Mumbling thanks, Haruka got up and ran towards the mage. The evil mage was about to strike her down with magic when Haruka tossed her wand at him. The enemy ninja caught the wand right before it hit the magician. At that instant, Yuuki appeared and tossed several flashbang capsules in their faces. The resulting explosion caused the two to be temporarily blinded and deaf from the sharp sound and immensely bright flash. Using this to their advantage, Haruka and Yuuki charged at their respective counter parts and started to beat them down mercilessly. The ninja escaped, but the mage was overpowered. Haruka went to regroup with Satoshi and Shigeru, knowing who would win that battle.

Yuuki used his sword to cut the white haired ninja, but she faded off right before the attack could hit her. She came down on him with her own sword, but he vanished similarly like she did.

_High slash! Low slash! Left punch! High kick! Right slash! Low kick! Thrust! Jump kick! Slash!_

This continued, each ninja evading the other's attack by vanishing, until one of them changed their tactics. The enemy tossed kunais at Yuuki. Caught off guard, he was injured by the attack. Countering, Yuuki charged blindly at her. Sensing victory in her grasp, the woman made a lighting fast vertical slice at him, only to have him split into two! Her eyes widened in surprise. He tricked her into attacking! The two Yuukis performed a low kick, knocking her into the air. She was about to recover when the Yuuki copies made another set of copies. The second set leapt into the air and punched her hard in the stomach. Going in for the kill, the two Yuukis on the ground dashed to her sides and punched her like the second set did, propelling her into the ground, incapacitating her.

Last was Kasumi versus the black belt fighter. The two fighters rushed at each other. When their fist clashed, it resulted in a stalemate. The enemy fighter was the first to break the lock and go on the offensive.

_Kick! High kick! Punch! Low kick! Uppercut! Thrust punch! Rolling kick!_

Kasumi blocked the first, ducked the second, parried the third, jumped the fourth, swerved past the fifth, side stepped the sixth, and interrupted the seventh attack, countering it by grabbing the man's leg and slamming him on the ground. The fighter stopped most of the damaged by pushing himself up as he landed on the floor. He kicked Kasumi away, causing her to slam into a wall. The enemy back flipped on the balls of his feet and rushed her. Kasumi narrowly dodged his fist by ducking. Here was her chance!

_Punch! Punch! Punch! Punch! Kick! Elbow! Punch! Uppercut! Leaping uppercut! Midair triple kick!_

The fighter, sustaining heavy wounds, heaving after that rapid succession of attacks. Using one of her recently learned techniques, she speedily caught up to him before he could recover attacked his stomach with her palm. Concentrating on her chi, she unleashed her chi wave attack, an invisible force that sent the man flying into a heap of equipment. K.O.!

"Ah!" The leader cried, clutching his arm in pain. He looked to see his teammates unconscious. "Heh…you guys are not that bad, but how about we kick it up a notch?" He bounced his Pokéball taunting in his hand.

"Give it up!" Satoshi demanded, his teammates regrouping. "You're all by yourself! What can you do?"

"This! Pokéball go!" The desperate crime boss called, tossing his balls in the air. When the light took form, Team Tatsujin gaped in fear. The first creature was a long, huge blue serpent, and the second was an enormous creature with a horn and skin as tough as steel. "Say hello and goodbye to Gyarados and Aggron! MWUAHAHAHAHAHA!" The gigantic Pokémon roared terrifyingly, frightening the five heroes.

"How the heck are we suppose to beat something like that?" Yuuki exclaimed.

Satoshi was afraid, very afraid. But no matter what, he couldn't let his friends down. He took out his Pokéball and enlarged it. "That's easy, we fight it as a team."

"Using what?"

"Our Pokémon! Remember your training today! If we give it our all, I know we can do it!"

Yuuki gave him a shocked stare. "…That has got to be the craziest thing I've ever heard!" His lips curled into a grin, taking out his to Pokéballs and enlarging it. "But then again, I like crazy! Let's do it!"

"I'm in!" Haruka joined.

"You guys are all nuts!" Kasumi shouted, only to sigh in defeat afterwards. "…I guess I'm nuts as well."

"Alright, I'll help out too!" Shigeru said, enlarging his Pokéballs. Satoshi was surprised.

"I didn't know you had Pokémon also!"

Shigeru glanced at him and smirked smugly. "Just wait until you see what I can do!" Everyone prepared their Pokéballs as the giant serpent and dinosaur like creature charged at them, preparing to attack them head on.

* * *

And that's the end of chapter two. Evil aren't I? Hope to see ya at Chapter 3. Don't you forget to review now! Laterz!


	3. Questioning souls, stolen hearts

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon …you're just SO asking for it!

* * *

_Everyone prepared their Pokéballs as the giant serpent and dinosaur like creature charged at them, preparing to attack them head on._

"Everyone, let's do it!" Satoshi led. The gang released their Pokémon. Gyarados unleashed a powerful stream of water from its mouth, scattering the forces. "Marowak, use your Bonemerang attack!"

"Maro…WAK!" The bone keeper Pokémon tossed its bone at the giant serpent. Though the attack hit directly, it barely damaged the over-sized Water Pokémon. Marowak was about to strike again when the Aggron used its tackle attack to knock it away. Kasumi's Pokémon stepped up to the plate, ready to take the offensive.

"Torchic, use ember! Totodile, use water gun!" She commanded. As the attacks were about to hit the Iron armor Pokémon, the attacks collided with each other, turning into harmless mist. Kasumi slapped her forehead in frustration. "That was stupid…" But then she got an idea, seeing as the Pokémon was temporarily blinded. "Haruka-chan, Yuuki-kun, have your Pokémon attack it now!"

Both of them nodded and called out their attacks. "Vulpix, use Ember! Ralts, use Confusion!" "Scyther, Nincada, use your Slash attack now!" The fox unleashed a wave of fire against the steel and rock Pokémon while the humanoid psychic used its power to try and constrict it. The mantis and bug Pokémon scratched the Pokémon's chest. All of the attacks scored a hit; but the only damage they did was to its patience.

"Aggron, use Iron Tail! Sweep those pests away!" The boss told it. Aggron's tail lit up white as it began to harden. The steel giant then used its long tail to sweep and damage Yuuki and Haruka's Pokémon. Scyther, Totodile and Ralts managed to dodge it, but Nincada fainted from the powerful attack. Quick to take the initiative, he made another command. "Gyarados, blow them away with hydro pump!" The blue dragon fired off its most powerful water attack in a sweep, damaging all of the Pokémon heavily. Vulpix, Marowak, and Torchic fainted from the attack's super effective damage. The rest were seriously injured. Their respective trainers recalled the fainted Pokémon.

"I'll handle this!" Shigeru reassured. "Go, Pokéball!" He tossed three Pokéballs in the air, revealing his forces. One of the Pokémon that came out was a six foot tall dog with a beige mane and black and orange tiger striped fur. The second was a dark grey Pokémon with white fur and a crescent blade on the side of his head. The last in his arsenal was an all black Pokémon with yellow ring patterns on its body.

Satoshi stared in surprise. "When did you get three Pokémon?"

"I got these Pokémon about a few months ago. I've been saving them for an occasion like today."

"So that's where you've been disappearing to so late at night…."

"But enough about that, let's take these guys down! Arcanine, use Extreme Speed!" The fire dog ran at the Aggron with godly speed.

"Aggron, wait for it to come close then use hyper beam!" The Aggron charged up a bundle of light energy in its mouth, waiting for his opponent to come close. Right when Arcanine was about to attack, Shigeru called out another attack.

"Arcanine, now hurry and use dig!" Arcanine burrowed right before Aggron released a charged up beam attack, breaching the gymnasium wall. The crime leader wasn't outsmarted yet.

"Gyarados, use hydro pump to blast that dog out of the hole!" Obeying its partner's commands, the serpent shot its deadly stream of water in the hole. The flame dog jumped out of the hole from under the Aggron, causing super effective damage and bringing it to critical health. Arcanine managed to jump out of the way of the water that shot from the hole and attacked the Aggron, knocking it out.

"That will teach you to mess with me!" Shigeru boasted. The arsonist grumbled as he recalled the fainted Aggron.

"It isn't over yet! Gyarados, use Crunch!" Gyarados swiftly clutched Arcanine within its jowls. The fire dog cried out in pain. "Now, finish it with another Hydro Pump!" The water dragon unleashed its powerful attack on the fire Pokémon in its mouth, knocking it out in one blow.

"No, Arcanine!" Shigeru called out. He recalled it back inside the Pokéball, praising it for a job well done. _'Curses…that was my most powerful Pokémon…what rotten luck…'_ He noticed the Pikachu in the corner of his eye. "An electric rodent...that's it! Satoshi! Use Pikachu to attack the Gyarados; it's weak against electric attacks!"

Satoshi nodded in confirmation. "Gotcha, Pikachu! Use your thunder shock!" The mouse Pokémon did as it was told and fired off an electrical attack at the enemy. The attack did moderate damage, but wasn't enough to take down the overgrown snake. "Damn it all! The attack wasn't strong enough!" He pondered his options and came up with an idea. "Haruka-san, have Ralts use its barrier attacks to protect us. Yuuki-kun, use Scyther's speed to evade and distract the Gyarados. Shigeru-niichan, help out Scyther with your Pokémon. Kasumi-san, use Totodile's water gun attack on my mark!" Everyone nodded and went along with the plan.

"I don't know what you're up to, but it's not going to happen. Gyarados, use Hydro Pump on the mouse!" The giant snake unleashed another stream of high pressure water at the electric mouse.

"Ralts, hurry and use Light Screen to protect Pikachu!" Haruka commanded. A transparent barrier was lifted right before the attack could connect. Ralts had to use the rest of its energy just to negate the attack, and fainted. Haruka recalled the Pokémon back and sighed, defeated.

"Gyarados, use hyper beam now that the defending Pokémon can't protect that rodent!" The blue serpent charged up an amazing amount of energy.

"Scyther! Use Agility and follow up with Slash! Go for its face!" Yuuki commanded. Scyther sped and jumped up to the Pokémon. Using its powerful scythes, it slashed the Gyarados on the cheek, making it angry. It was about to blast Scyther with its attack when Shigeru intercepted it.

"Absol, use Agility to knock Scyther out of the way! Umbreon, use Faint Attack!" The bladed Pokémon Absol lunged towards the mantis Pokémon and pushed it out of the way. The moonlight Pokémon Umbreon faded then reappeared right under the snake and tackled it. The charged up hyper beam was let loose, but went out of control due to Umbreon's interruption. As it swept throughout the Gymnasium, Haruka was in the direct line of fire, and was petrified.

"Haruka-chan, get out of the way!" Her friends called out to her. She was frozen stiff, not responding in the least. The attack was about to strike her when a blur of white pushed her out of the attack's radius. Haruka gasped when she saw her savior struck dead on by the attack.

"NO, YUUKI-KUN!" She cried, seeing her best friend being struck and sent flying into a heap of equipment. She ran with all her might to the fallen ninja.

The massive beam continued its rampage, heading towards Pikachu. The mouse couldn't move out of the way in time, but Satoshi managed to get in front of it and protect it with his back. The attack hit the samurai, searing his back and making him scream out in agony.

"Sato-kun, you fool!" Shigeru yelled. When the attack ended, smoke enveloped the area. When it cleared, Satoshi was still in front of Pikachu, but his face was contorted in extreme pain and misery. He panted sharply, but smiled at the surprised Pikachu.

"Well buddy, I know we didn't get along, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to protect ya…heh." Those were his last words before he collapsed, the pain overtaking him.

"Satoshi-kun!" Kasumi and Shigeru screeched in horror. They ran as quickly as they could to him. Shigeru checked his pulse, praying to the gods that he was still alive.

"He just fainted." He sighed in relief.

"That idiot…" Kasumi muttered quietly.

"…Pikapi…" The Pikachu rubbed his shoulder repeatedly, trying to wake him up.

"Now, now, you will all get your turn!" The crime boss cackled evilly. Kasumi glared at him with extreme anger.

"Are you insane using such an attack? You could've killed him!"

"All's fair in love and war my dear." He laughed. "Don't worry; I'll be sure to send you all where he's going."

The Pikachu, fueled by raged, glared murderously at the sinister man. "Pika pikachu pi!" it snapped, charging up immense electrical voltage.

"Alright, Kasumi-chan, you will lead the attack. Combine Totodile's water gun with Pikachu's thunder shock!" Shigeru told her, knowing Satoshi's strategy.

"Okay, Pikachu, Totodile! Use Thunder Shock and Water Gun now!" Kasumi commanded, pointing at the water snake.

Due to using hyper beam, the creature was unable to defend itself. Pikachu shot a powerful wave of electricity, combining with Totodile's water gun steam creating a powerful attack. The attack was strong enough to knock out the Gyarados. The arsonist recalled the Pokémon and fell on his knees, humiliated and defeated.

"I can't believe I lost! My Pokémon were way stronger and more powerful…damn it…" Without warning, Kasumi charged at him drove her fist into his face, knocking him unconscious.

"That's for hurting my friends!" She yelled. Right then, she covered her mouth and gasped. Did she just consider those weirdoes her friends? After some pondering, she sighed in defeat. _'I guess it isn't so bad…' _Remembering about Yuuki, She ran up to where he had been injured. He was taken out of the pile of hardware thanks to Haruka, but looked badly injured. She placed a comforting hand on Haruka's shoulder, who gazed at her fallen friend in despair. "…Is he alright?" She asked.

Haruka stood up, slinging his arm over her shoulder. "He was hurt pretty bad. He's unconscious right now, but I think he will live…" Her face was filled with guilt. "If I wasn't so stupid and scared, he wouldn't have gotten hurt…"

"That's not true." Kasumi comforted. "If Yuuki-kun's anything like how you talk about him, he would've done it no matter what the reason, and for anyone…"

Haruka wiped her tears and looked up at Kasumi, a bit relieved. "Thanks…"

"Sorry to interrupt but my brother is unconscious and heavy, so can we call the authorities and medical team now?" Shigeru exasperated, carrying Satoshi on his back.

After getting the police to arrest the criminals, Yuuki and Satoshi were sent to the medical room. After applying some first aid, the nurses told the other three that they would be alright, but required that they would miss a few days of classes. The teammates Pokémon were placed in a special healing zone that allowed them to rest and recover.

The room itself resembled a typical hospital, due to the all white interior and bed. Yuuki and Satoshi's bed were placed close together, only separated by a brown table that held a vase with a rose inside. On Yuuki's end, there was a window which revealed the night sky. The room was relatively small, but big enough to house at least ten people.

Until the late hours of the night, Kasumi, Shigeru, and Haruka stayed by their friends side. After hours of watching, Kasumi stood up, catching the other two's attention.

"I'm going to catch some sleep. I'll come back to check on them tomorrow after classes." She told them. Before she left, she glanced at the Pikachu that rested comfortably on his partner's chest and smiled warmly._ 'It looks like superman made a new friend.' _She mused before leaving.

Over an hour later, Shigeru yawned sleepily, fatigue rearing its head. He glanced over at Haruka. Her expression was a combination of worry, guilt, sadness, and confusion?

"Haruka-chan? Is something wrong?" He asked. Haruka didn't respond. "Haruka-chan?" He said a little louder, surprising her.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't hear you the first time."

"Is something wrong?"

"Oh no, there's nothing wrong. I'm just worried about him, that's all."

He didn't buy it. "There's something else wrong isn't there? I happen to be very empathetic, so I can easily tell how you're feeling. These two are asleep, so it's just you and me."

Haruka was a bit hesitant, but felt that he could be trusted. He was Satoshi's brother after all. "Well, earlier…when Yuuki-kun and I were hiding in the tree, he jumped from it while carrying me."

"Hold up!" Shigeru interrupted, surprised. "You mean to tell me he was crazy enough to leap from a 20 foot tree?"

"You don't know the half of it," She sighed, continuing the story. "Anyway, in mid air, I was about to scream when he…he kissed me." She couldn't help but redden under Shigeru's stupefied gaze. It was embarrassing.

"He kissed you…while jumping from a tree?" Haruka nodded. He raised an eyebrow, astounded by such a crazy feat. His blue eyes scrutinized her carefully. He had read some romance novels a while back; mainly when there was nothing else to do. There were times when the girl would kiss a guy and get _the_ feeling, the same feeling that reflected how they truly felt about the other person. It was obvious that it was something in that nature. "So…when he kissed you, you felt a weird feeling?" He guessed.

"It was more than that." She went into deep thought. "It was almost as if I could feel his feelings…"

Shigeru didn't see that coming. He was intrigued. "Wait…so you felt his emotions?" Haruka nodded. "I see…what kind of emotions were there?"

"Well, there were three, but I could only identify two clearly." She glanced at Yuuki, absentmindedly running her hand through his fluffy hair. "The first one was desperation, which was understandable since I was about to scream. The enemy would've found us out if I did. The second one was fear, like he had no idea what would've happened. The last was too faint to tell, but…"

"But what?"

"But…the last feeling…I can't put my finger on it, but it felt…weird. Like it was a warm, pleasant feeling, but at the same time, it was confusing."

"I see…" Shigeru noticed the time. It was a little past three. "You should go home and rest. You got school later." She was about to object when he continued. "I will stay here and watch over them, so you don't have to worry."

Haruka yawned, exhausted. "Okay…good night Shigeru-san."

"Good night." When Haruka left, he began to think about the conversation. _'I've never heard of a story like that. If she was more intoned with his feelings than her own, then she must care for him more than she even knows.' _He glanced at Satoshi's sleeping form and smirked. _'Well little brother, I think you're going to lose a fan sooner or later…'_

After the first class, Haruka and Kasumi used their break time to check up on the boys. When they entered the medical bay, a lady dressed in a white nurse's outfit approached the two.

"Hello, is one of you two Momiji Haruka-san?"

"I am." Haruka bowed in respect.

"I'm going to check up on the others, I'll see you later." Kasumi left and followed the path to the designated room. Haruka turned to face the nurse.

"Is something the matter?"

"If I remember correctly, you're a close friend of Odamaki Yuuki-san, right?" Haruka nodded. The nurse gave her two Pokéballs. "These are Yuuki's Pokémon. He was still asleep when I checked on him, and I was wondering if you would be so kind as to bring them to his room."

Haruka nodded without a second thought, grabbing the balls and heading out the door. She only took one step outside when she froze in her tracks. This was going to be her first step inside his house. Whatever he was hiding, she was about to find out. She continued her trek until she was right in front of his door.

Her hand slowly made its way to the door handle, trembling nervously. _'I'm just leaving his Pokéballs here…I'm not invading his privacy or anything…just delivering…'_ She constantly reminded herself, grasping the door handle. _'Wait…maybe it will be locked. Then I could just wait and give it to him later. But just to be sure…'_ She twisted the handle with ease and heard the click of the door opening. Her heart began to race anxiously. The door slowly creaked open, allowing her inside. She inhaled deeply before opening the door completely. As she stepped inside, she came to a startling discovery.

Back at the medical room, Kasumi arrived at the designated room. When she entered, she noticed that Satoshi was wide awake and playing with Pikachu.

"Looks like you're awake." She stated plainly.

"Yep. Just woke up an hour ago. How's class?"

"Ugh." Was the reply, making Satoshi laugh.

"Glad to see you enjoyed it." Satoshi looked around the room and noticed something missing. "Say, did you see Yuuki-kun on the way here?"

"No, he didn't check out, otherwise we would've known."

"You don't say…" Satoshi pondered._ 'Oh well, probably went out to get some air…'_

Haruka stood in the middle of the hallway, looking confused. "Why was everyone so surprised when they saw his room? I don't see anything wrong…" She walked over to the living room and noticed a book, a telephone, and a laptop on the floor. After putting the Pokéballs near the book, she turned around and was about to leave when it hit her like a thousand thunderbolts. She whipped around, wide eyed.

"What the?" She hastily searched the entire house multiple times, hoping that it was just a figment of her imagination. "Where's…everything?" She gasped, bewildered. Her mind flashed back to when she asked Satoshi what he saw inside.

"_Trust me, its nothing you would want to see."_

She suddenly realized that it was actually a cryptic message, and he was right. There was nothing she would want to see.

Because there was nothing to see.

No parents, no bed, no…anything.

_'How…how could he live this way? How could anyone live this way?'_ She was reminded about what she saw earlier. The book! Maybe it had some information about what was going on.

When she picked up the black book, she felt a pang of guilt. She really didn't want to go past the red line of privacy, but it was obvious that Yuuki needed some dire help, and fast! Flipping open the book, she read the contents.

_Dear Journal_

_6/6/13_

_Mood: …_

_Today is my birthday…but there is nothing to celebrate for. The pain of what happened 9 years ago today still burns within my mind. He won't let me live a single day without reminding me about it. I've made over 4 attempts today, but all were unsuccessful. Why must suicide be so hard?_

The book fell limp to the floor. Her hands trembled in shock. Suicide? What on Gaetia was so wrong with him that he would want to commit suicide? She didn't even know when his birthday was. But wait…4 attempts? If he really wanted to do it, wouldn't he have done it by now? Driven by curiosity, she picked up the book again, continuing from where she left off.

_But I already know the answer to that don't I? It's obviously her. He doesn't like her very much…no, he despises her; he always did. She was the first person who actually considered me a friend. I've felt different ever since. Momiji Haruka-chan, she really is the sweetest person I've ever met._

Her heart took a leap. She didn't think he would say something so heart warming. Intrigued, she read on.

_But…something happened not too long ago, something dreadful. It was when—_

Before she could continue, a shadow loomed over her.

Suddenly, she blacked out.

Sometime later, Haruka woke up to the sound of a bell. Panic and confusion ran through her mind as she glanced around to see where she was. To her surprise, she was outside, lying on a bench! She groaned as she sat up, the back of her neck sore.

_'What am I doing out here…and why am I sitting on a bench? Was that just a dream?'_ The bell rung again, telling her to go to her second class quickly. _'It just had to be a dream…more like a nightmare…' _Concluding her thoughts, she made her way to class.

Back in the medical room, Kasumi was about to leave when someone entered the room.

"Yuuki-kun, where have you been?" Kasumi interrogated. "We've been waiting for you to show up for the past 45 minutes!"

Yuuki rubbed the back of his neck bashfully. "My bad. I got carried away with my walk." He smiled sheepishly.

"Well anyway, I've got to get going. The nurse said that you guys will need to stay here for a few days. I gotta get to class so see ya later." Kasumi left them to go back to class. Yuuki lay on his bed and groaned a little, still in pain.

"Yuuki-kun, shouldn't you be in bed instead of walking all over the place?" Satoshi inquired, petting the sleeping Pikachu.

"Eh, it's all right. I've been through worse punishment; namely Haru-chan." They both chuckled at the comment. "So…since we're stuck here, we might as well get some R&R. Especially since Hayabusa-sensei is going to drill us to death for missing his classes."

"Right." Satoshi noticed that he was already asleep. Shrugging helplessly, Satoshi started to sleep as well, seeing that they were going to be loaded with school work later.

A week later, everything returned to normal…or as close to normal as it could get. It was Saturday, and the group gathered at a park. Yuuki hadn't arrived yet, so they kept themselves busy with conversation. Satoshi started off with how well he and Pikachu were getting along. The said Pokémon was clinging onto his shoulder, watching Kasumi retort comically at its partner's comments. Haruka however, was deep in thought, thinking about the 'dream' she had a week ago. She was so deep in thought however, that she didn't notice the stares that she was getting from her friends.

"Haruka-chan, are you alright?" Kasumi asked, jarring her out of her thoughts.

"Oh, um, yeah. I was just thinking about the weirdest dream I had while back."

"What dream?"

"Well…I dreamt that I went inside Yuuki's house, and when I was there, nothing was inside his house! I mean, no furniture, no sign that a real human being even existed there. Pretty silly huh?" She was expecting a laugh or a similar reaction…but she was dead wrong. Kasumi and Satoshi stared at her in disbelief and shock. Haruka didn't like the looks she was receiving. It took her a second to guess why they gave such a reaction. Her eyes widened immensely. "…It's true isn't it?"

"Haruka-chan…" Satoshi started, momentarily loss for words. "He wanted to tell you, but it would've been too painful for him. I don't know how you dreamt of something so accurate, but I'm sure you were bound to know anyway."

Haruka's gaze lowered, looking dejected. "But, I was his friend. He could've told me. Doesn't he trust me?"

"Listen…" Kasumi started. "Men these days are arrogant, but people like Yuuki-kun are idiots who do stupid things with good intentions. It was obvious that he didn't want you to think differently of him, or perhaps, he didn't want to be treated like he couldn't fend for himself. Don't take it too hard. Love betrays logic."

Right then, Yuuki approached them. "Hey you guys! Sorry I'm late." When he arrived, he noticed that Kasumi and Satoshi gave him apologetic looks. Haruka's expression was unreadable. "Err, is something the matter?"

"Yuuki-kun…" Haruka fidgeted. "Um…could I talk to you for a second…alone?"

"Uh, sure." Yuuki agreed. Haruka led him to a secluded area in the park. Under the shade of a cherry blossom tree was a grove of white flowers and cherry blossom petals. After going far enough, she let go of his arm and stood still. "Was there something important you wanna talk about?"

"…Stand still."

Yuuki raised an eyebrow, but complied with her request. Her expression was still unreadable as she turned around and walked up to him. Without warning, she grasped his shirt and tore it off. Needless to say, he was quite startled.

"What are you doing?" Before he could loosen her grip, a great deal of his shirt was ripped, revealing his chest and stomach. There were scars all over his body. Haruka turned around swiftly, hiding her face from him.

"So, it was true…the dream I had…"

Yuuki cursed inwardly. _'She wasn't supposed to remember that! Great, she's just going to be like all the others…'_ When Haruka turned around, her expression was a lot clearer.

She was furious.

_SLAP!_

Clearly not expecting such a reaction, Yuuki stumbled back, grasping his sore cheek. He'd felt many of her slaps before, but this one hurt the worst, powered by her anger. "OW! WHY ON EARTH DID YOU…Haruka-chan?" His sentence slowed to a stop, noticing a dramatic change in her expression. She gripped onto the remnants of his shirt, letting loose a river of tears.

"Why…why didn't tell me earlier?" She sobbed. Yuuki closed his eyes tightly, holding back his pain as much as he could.

"I couldn't! I just couldn't handle allowing someone else to live with my burden. You can't possibly understand why I live the way I do!"

"Who said I needed to understand? I don't care what happened in the past! I just want to help my best friend…is that so wrong?"

He gazed into her eyes, overwhelmed. She didn't care about his past…or about the scars on his body…she just cared about him. Everyone else except for one other person had responded either in a negative way, or pitied him. But she just wanted to help. She didn't even ask about anything of his past.

Suddenly, he needed to be reminded to control his heavy breathing. His heart began to beat nervously and his mind was completely distracted. He couldn't tell what was wrong, but he didn't bother with to find out, because from the moment he saw looked into her sapphire eyes…

His fate was sealed, along with his heart.

He embraced her affectionately, closing his eyes to feel the sudden need for her warmth. "Thank you Haruka-chan. I'm sorry for not telling you sooner, I just—"

Haruka placed her index finger on his lips, stopping him abruptly. "Don't worry about it. I understand that you have your reasons, but just don't forget…" She returned his embrace by wrapping her arms around his waist. "You got friends who are willing to help."

"Thanks…" He nuzzled deeper, feeling relieved. After a few comfortable moments, they released each other. "Let's catch up with Satoshi-kun and Kasumi-chan. They must be getting worried." Without missing a beat, he made his way back to them.

Before following, Haruka noted his change of behavior._ 'Wow, his smile was a lot brighter than usual. But why did he look so…flushed?'_ She noticed something was missing. Checking her pockets, her smile soon turned into a knowing frown. "Yuuki-kun! Give back my donut!" She yelled, bolting after him.

The following night, Satoshi decided to fill in another entry in his journal.

_Dear journal_

_3/18/15_

_Mood: relieved_

_The last week was a crazy one! First, we got introduced to these new creatures called Pokémon, which are a lot cooler than normal animals. I didn't get along with my Pikachu at first, but then after last week, we got along great. But what was scary was when Yuuki was accused of arson! I was so furious that I took it upon myself to deal with the investigation myself. After some fancy battling, we won the battle…though I wasn't conscious long enough to know._

_The freakiest thing I've even seen was the inside of Yuuki's house. The poor guy doesn't have anything! I'm not even sure if his parents are still around. By some miracle, Haruka managed to find out about it and confronted him. Kasumi and I saw the whole thing. I was scared at first when she slapped him, but then she went with the waterworks. It was a touching moment._

_And did you know that my brother had Pokémon WAY before I did? Is it me, or does he always seem to be one step ahead of me?_

_In the end, everyone helped save the day, and we got a little popular because of that._

_Well, that's about it. I heard that during my classes tomorrow, they are going to teach us something really awesome, and involving Pokémon! I can't wait! Gotta go! _

_Signed as always,_

_Satoshi Tajiri

* * *

_

Gushy scenes are so tough to do these days. Anyway, please review and keep an eye out for the next chapter!

Tatsujin – master (as far as I know)


	4. The pill, the plan, the league

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon, cuz if I did, every season from 2 on would've owned!

* * *

_In an instant, they sprinted towards each other, closing the distance between them quickly. They were mere feet away when they slashed each other, blood staining their swords. They both stood in place, waiting for their opposition to fall. After a few intense moments, the white haired warrior fell to his knees, using his blade as a crutch. Satoshi clutched his side, wincing from the pain._

_Using his remaining endurance, Satoshi limped to the man, his sword in a vice grip. He glared down on his opponent smugly, but the combatant didn't flinch._

"_If you're going to finish me, do it now." The man shot icily._

"_Fine…" Satoshi lifted his sword—_

"SATOSHI-KUN!"

"...Huh?" Satoshi came out of his trance. Kasumi and Haruka stared at him inquisitively. He had been so in thought that he forgot that they were walking to their first class together.

"I asked if you knew what the special surprise was today!" Kasumi asked irritably.

"Oh right, not a clue," He answered, "I didn't hear anything about it."

"Are you feeling alright this morning?" Haruka asked, placing her palm on his forehead.

Satoshi waved it off. "Yeah I'm fine. It's just those weird dreams again…"

"Are you talking about the dream where you fight that one guy?"

"Yeah, it's been happening so often that I'm starting to think that it may not be just a dream…but more like a premonition, or prophecy."

"I've heard of those before," Kasumi commented, "It's rare, but it has happened to people at this school, especially after what happened 11 years ago…"

"Oh yeah, you mean the _Shadow raid _of 2004?" Satoshi said in remembrance, "Isn't that the time when the school was attacked by ghost and psychic Pokémon?"

Kasumi nodded. "Yeah. Before the day we were introduced to those creatures, I didn't know what they were!"

Satoshi noted that something was out of place. "Hey, where's Yuuki-kun?"

"He's already in class, most likely trying to come up with another scheme." Haruka said knowingly.

"How do you know?"

"Yuuki-kun is always up to something, mostly planning about how to steal my stuff. But no matter what, he will always fail!" Haruka cackled confidently, frightening her friends.

"Err, well we're almost there, so whatever he's planning and whatever the new lesson is, we'll find out."

As they arrived to class, the room was as noisy as ever. Most of the students were busy talking amongst themselves about the special lesson today. Satoshi spotted Yuuki at his desk. His eyes were narrowed as he furrowed his eyebrows, very deep in thought.

_'What is happening to me?'_ Yuuki thought, not noticing his friends yet, _'Ever since that confrontation, I've been feeling different. Is something wrong with me?'_

"Hey, Yuuki-kun!" His friends called, forcing him out of his thoughts.

"Oh, what's up you guys?" He greeted. Satoshi gave him a high five.

"You disappeared on us Ninja-san," Satoshi joked. "But anyway, I'm going to my table, so I'll talk to you after class, alright?"

"Later man!" As Kasumi and Satoshi left for their seats, Haruka took her designated one next to Yuuki. It wasn't until a few minutes later that Mathisu came through the door.

Wasting no time, he started the lesson. "As you all know, I have a special surprise for all of you. The students in this building are being introduced to the revolutionary new session even as we speak. Of course, seeing that you all are dying out of curiosity, I will cut to the chase." The teacher opened one of the suitcases and took out many sheets of paper. "For the next few days, I will be teaching you how to communicate with Pokémon." Shock and surprise swept through the room.

"Is that even possible?" One of the students asked.

"Of course, it will be time consuming and difficult...at least, it would've been." He spoke cryptically, confusing his students. "You see, this is an experiment, using a special drug called _Pokésync_." He pulled out a couple of bottles, possessing capsules that were half blue, half purple. "This is called such because in order to communicate with Pokémon, your mental psyche must be set to that level of understanding. You do not need to worry; it is completely safe and if you don't want to participate, you don't have to. How this works is simple: The more you talk with them, the more you will be able to understand them, and this is where the drug comes in. It memorizes the patterns in that Pokémon's speech and engraves it in your brain. Now, before I go through with the lesson, I must ask how many of you would like to participate." Every student raised their hands eagerly. "Well, well, we have some testers. Alright, if you would please come here and sign these forms…"

After all the students signed the forms and took the capsules, Mathisu went on with the lesson. While he was teaching, Haruka noticed Yuuki taking repetitive glimpses at her. When the teacher wasn't looking, she gave him a questioning look.

"Is something wrong?" She whispered.

Slightly startled, Yuuki tried hard to keep his cool. "No, nothing's wrong. Why would you think so?"

"It's because you've been staring at me." She answered. Her lips curled into a grin. "Trying to come up with another sneak attack?"

Searching his brain for answers, he took the safer way out. "Uh…yeah, that's it!" He laughed nervously.

Satisfied with his answer, she turned forward to pay attention, and not wanting to be caught again, Yuuki did the same.

After the bell rang, Yuuki immediately disappeared without notice. When the rest of the class left, Mathisu was busy packing up his belongings when Yuuki appeared before him.

"Sensei…we need to talk…"

The rest of team Tatsujin sat in the cafeteria, using their time to play with their Pokémon and practice talking to them.

"Okay Pikachu, say Satoshi!"

"Pikapi!" The mouse replied.

"No, not Pikapi, Satoshi!"

"Pikapi! Pikapi!"

Safe to say, it wasn't going well.

Satoshi groaned in frustration. "Man, this stuff is harder than I thought!"

"Well…did you even take the drug?" Kasumi eyed him slyly.

"Of course I…oh wait, no I didn't. Whoops!" He laughed nervously, making the girls giggle. He took the capsule and down it along with some water. "How long did sensei say it would take?"

"I think he said it would at least take two weeks in order to understand our Pokémon. But for me and my Ralts, it will only take about 5 days since she's a psychic type," Haruka answered. She scooted right next to Satoshi, making him slightly uncomfortable. "You know…we could learn how to speak to our Pokémon together, maybe after school?"

Satoshi shifted in his seat. "Err…um…"

Kasumi gave out an exasperated sigh. "Oh, brother, just go ahead and do it already!" She barked, annoyance evident in her voice.

"Well…I gue—"

"Nincada, String shot now!" A voice called out. The said Pokémon shot a long stream of sticky substance towards Haruka's box of donuts. When the attack connected, it was immediately yanked from the table and dragged along the ground.

Angered by the interruption, Haruka shot up from her seat, her fist clenched in fury. "YUUKI-KUN!"

Yuuki smirked victoriously, donuts in hand. "Ah HA! I finally got them!" Without missing a beat, the chase was on. As they disappeared from the distance, Satoshi and Kasumi gazed in their direction, dumbfounded.

"That was…random." Shrugging helplessly, they followed to make sure Haruka wouldn't kill him.

Many brutal bruises later, Haruka's box was once again back in her clutches, along with a battered Yuuki in a headlock. It wasn't long until the bell rang, signaling the end of their break. Satoshi and the others went towards their next class. While walking, Yuuki thought about the conversation he had with Mathisu-sensei.

"_Sensei…we need to talk…"_

_Mathisu looked up from his work. "Is something the matter? Here, take a seat." With a careless gesture, he invited Yuuki to a seat right next to him. "Now, tell me what's wrong. It isn't like you to seem so in thought."_

_Yuuki fidgeted nervously, confusion and worry clear in his eyes. "Well…it started a bit over a week ago…Haruka saw my house." Mathisu raised his eyebrow in surprise, "And…she confronted me about it. But she wasn't like the others. Besides you, she was the only person who didn't care about my past, or anything. Really, she just cared about me. Ever since I saw her eyes then, I've been feeling odd."_

"_Nervousness, anxiety, butterflies in your stomach, and a lot more things you can't explain?" Mathisu guessed. Yuuki nodded; surprised that he figured it out so quickly. "And I bet that you are wondering what you had been feeling since then, right?" Yuuki nodded again. "Well, I think I know the answer."_

_Yuuki leaned in, paying full attention. "Well, what is it? Am I getting sick or something?"_

_Mathisu shook his head. "In a matter of speaking. You, my friend, are suffering from an incurable disease." He smiled slyly, watching Yuuki gasp in distress. "You are in love."_

_Yuuki fell out of his chair, shocked. "What? That's ridiculous!"_

"_Not so. You've known her since awhile back. It's no surprise."_

"_That can't be right, and besides…" Yuuki's expression turned serious, "You know he's not going to like this."_

_Mathisu nodded sadly. "I know…this will be troubling. You do know she is going to have to find out about him sooner or later right?" Yuuki nodded hesitantly._

"_So, let's just say that I really am in love with her. What do I do?"_

"_Sadly, I cannot tell you what to do. You are plenty old enough to find out on your own. You must do what is right, and what is in your heart. Keep this in mind, because when the time comes, you are going have to make a decision. It will be up to you to choose your fate."_

"_Thanks Mathisu-sensei." Yuuki stood up and bowed before leaving. Just as he was about to leave, he turned around. His ruby eyes scrutinized the teacher. "Say, why do you always speak so cryptically? Do you have a thing for riddles or something?"_

_The instructor laughed before answering. "These days, students are becoming more and more advanced. Some are even able to outsmart their teachers. But, when I speak the way I do, it makes them think for themselves and explore new frontiers, thus expanding their knowledge. I've found that rather than teaching them facts, I give them a large enough space to let loose their curiosity and find out new things. And besides, that's what makes me cool." Yuuki chuckled and was about to leave when Mathisu stopped him. "Before you go, just remember not to change who you are. If you don't want Haruka-chan to know prematurely, you better act normal…err, as normal as it can be for you. Now go ahead, your friends are waiting."_

"_Thanks, I knew I could count on you."_

Yuuki took a few glimpses at Haruka, trying to determine the truth in Mathisu's words. He had known the sensei for years, ever since the incident 11 years ago and he was like a real father to him. He knew that he was right most of the time, but him, in love? Absurd!

Taking a good look at Haruka, he felt the strangest urge. It was like he wanted to hold something. That was when he noticed her hand swinging in sync with her steps. He started to sweat nervously, the sensation growing within him.

_'Do I really want to do that?' _He asked himself. His hand twitched nervously. _'I…I guess it wouldn't hurt…friends do stuff like that sometimes…' _trying to look as inconspicuous as possible, he looked ahead while trying to grasp her hand. He began to get frustrated when he kept missing. Making a coup de grace, he scooted closer and successfully grasped it. Haruka suddenly made a gasp and stared at him incredulously, and then at his hand. It wasn't until his hand caressed a smooth and warm surface that he realized it wasn't her hand he was holding.

"YOU PERVERT!"

_SLAP!_

Haruka stormed off angrily while Yuuki was eating dirt. Kasumi shook her head in disgust and left, but Satoshi stayed behind and crouched next to him.

"Are you alright?"

"…Why me…" Yuuki groaned, dazed.

During the second class, all of the teams lined up in a row in front of their instructor, Hayabusa. "Students, I am proud to say that it is that time of year again…" The students stared at him curiously. "Today, I will be taking sign ups for the Gaetia region's Bushido League."

"Bushido league?" Satoshi echoed, peaked with interest.

"It's a league that only a few teams can enter. It is a grand tournament to determine the best team in the region. There are two catches though; one of them being that you must go through the preliminaries, namely me. I will determine which teams go and don't go. The top four teams that I choose will be able to compete in the tournament. The second catch is that in order to compete, you must win 5 medals that signify that you've completed the 5 trials in the region."

"What are the 5 trials?" Satoshi asked.

"That, I cannot tell you, since they continue to change; but where they are located is in the five main cities of this region: Aka city, Midori city, Ki city, Aoi city, and Cha city. Two weeks from now will be the start of the competition, so use the time given to you to train."

_'The Bushido league…,' _Satoshi thought to himself. _'If I can enter, than I have a sure shot at becoming the greatest swordsman…'_ Inspired, he prepared himself for two weeks worth of training.

"Now that that's out of the way, let's pick up the pace with some warm-ups…"

Two weeks of heavy training later, it was the Sunday before the competition. It was planned that Satoshi and the rest would get together and hang out, but his bad habits prevented otherwise. He was resting peacefully in his bed when a voice disturbed him.

"Sato-kun…"

Satoshi grunted and turned in his bed, ignoring the voice.

"Sato-kun…"

No response

"Hey, wake up!"

"Give me five more minutes…" Satoshi grumbled.

"You better get up, or else…" The voice warned.

"Whatever…" Satoshi was about to fall back asleep when 10,000 volts of electricity negated the action. Burnt and angry, he shot up from his bed and glared at the Pikachu. "Why the heck did you do that for?"

"It's because you wouldn't get up! You were suppose to meet your friends today remember?" Pikachu reminded.

"I was about to get up when _someone_ electrocuted me!"

"If I didn't do anything, your lazy butt would've still been in bed!"

"I'm not lazy you—" Satoshi stopped abruptly, realization hitting him. "Wait a minute…since when did you talk?"

Pikachu was equally surprised. "Since when could you understand me?"

"Ah!" Satoshi gasped. "It's the Pokésync! I can understand you now! Awesome!"

"I thought all that stuff was just a bunch of hocus pocus. Cool!"

"I gotta see this!" Taking out his Pokéball, he released his Marowak. "Hey Marowak, can you understand me?"

Marowak gave him an odd look. "Of course I can. But the real question is can you understand me?"

"Yeah, I can! Sweet!" Satoshi nodded enthusiastically.

The Marowak raised an eyebrow. "How interesting..."

Excited, Satoshi hurriedly got dressed and grabbed his equipment. After preparations were done, he ran out the door with haste.

As he ran across the courtyard, he came upon an open field behind the school. Benches and foliage were placed in numerous places and a barrier of trees surrounded the area. He entered through the trees to discover another, smaller area. A large tree overshadowed the three friends he was going to meet. Yuuki sat on the thick tree branch that was high above the ground. One of his legs hung down while his other was perched on the branch. Under the tree sat Haruka and Kasumi, conversing and enjoying each others' company.

As Satoshi approached them, he noticed that many of the Pokémon looked different than they had a few days ago. Yuuki's Nincada was flying now, his bug eyes were red and its wings flapped vigorously. Haruka's Ralts looked a bit older and more feminine due to her teal hair and white skirt. Kasumi's torchic and Totodile were a little taller and stronger looking. The Pokémon were running around, playing happily with each other. He called out to his friends, letting his presence be known.

"What took you? Overslept again?" Kasumi guessed.

"Nah, just something yellow and annoying bugged me earlier." He glared at Pikachu, who glared back in response. Yuuki's new Pokémon caught his attention again. "Hey Yuuki-kun! What happened to your Nincada?"

"Oh, him? He evolved. Doesn't he look cooler?"

"Evolved? …Oh yeah! Isn't that whenever a Pokémon reaches a certain level or requirement, they change their appearance?"

Yuuki nodded. "Yeah, now my Nincada is a Ninjask! Also, something freaky happened. Check this out!" Yuuki took out a Pokéball and tossed it in the air. What appeared from it was a brown bug Pokémon with a halo on top of its head. The hollow ghost started to float around his partner. "When my Nincada evolved, this Pokémon appeared in one of my Pokéballs out of nowhere! This one is known as Shedinja, and it's a bug/ghost type. Isn't that cool?"

Satoshi nodded. "Yeah, it is but…doesn't that mean that you only got one spot left?"

"Yeah…" He sighed. "But I still liked this Pokémon, so I don't care; isn't that right Shedinja?" The Pokémon made a grunt that Satoshi couldn't recognize and floated away.

"So you guys, what plans we got for today?"

Kasumi nudged Haruka, who shifted nervously but stood up and approached him. "Satoshi-kun, I was hoping that we could go out together…just the two of us." She pouted cutely, hoping it would work.

Satoshi scratched his head nervously. "Well…I was kind of hoping that we could train a bit more…"

"Oh come on, we've been training for the last two weeks! All I'm asking for is a few hours to spend with you." She pleaded once more.

With a deep sigh, he finally surrendered. "Alright, you win. I'll spend time with you." Haruka squealed joyously and hugged him tightly.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Haruka began dragging the poor boy, bouncing happily. Kasumi sighed and glanced upward at Yuuki, taking note of his frown.

_'Perhaps this should make things more interesting…' _She thought sneakily. "Hey Yuuki-kun! What's with the face? Are you _jealous_?" She emphasized, catching him off-guard.

"W-what? Me, jealous? Nope! Not me!"

"Liar lair, pants of fire!" Ninjask teased, buzzing around him insanely fast. With quick reflexes, Yuuki caught the speedy bug by the arm and brought it within whispering range.

"Hey…unless you want everyone to know how you've been ogling Haruka-chan's Vulpix, you better quit the jokes!"

The bug gasped sharply. "That's low! Just because I happen to have a thing for red hotties you're going to blackmail me? I'm hurt."

"Quit the melodrama. And for the record, I am _not_ jealous."

"What's with the secrecy? Are you going to go after them or not?" Kasumi asked impatiently.

Yuuki jumped down from the tree and started walking. Kasumi was about to make a comment when he interrupted her. "I am _not_ following them. I'm just taking a walk and just happen to be walking in the same direction. So there!" He shot immaturely, walking away with his entourage in tow.

As the sinister fighter stood up, her newly evolved Pokémon Combusken and Croconaw came up to her. Combusken eyed her unsurely. "Are you sure you know what you're doing?"

"Of course, it's so simple," She answered confidently, "Yuuki-kun isn't going to do anything unless someone forces his hand. It's obvious how much they like each other, but they're too stubborn and stupid to notice, let alone try anything. With my help, he'll be able to get her attention, and once Haruka-chan realizes that she wants Yuuki-kun more than Satoshi-kun, she'll go running into Yuuki-kun's arms. End of story." She cackled evilly.

"Erm yeah, brilliant plan there, but there is one small detail you overlooked," Croconaw commented, raising an eyebrow. "What if Satoshi-kun and Haruka-chan actually got together and fell for each other, hm?"

Kasumi flinched faintly, but the other Pokémon caught it. "Well, that won't happen because…um…just because!"

"Oh, I get it now!" Combusken grinned, "I bet you're only doing this because you don't want your man to be with another woman, so you're going to make Yuuki-kun jealous!"

Kasumi whirled around and glared at them. "Are you out of your mind? He is not my _man_! He isn't even a man to begin with! I'm doing this purely for Yuuki-kun and Haruka-chan!" She crossed her arms defiantly.

"Well, you sure proved us wrong," Croconaw shrugged, "But tell me this: Is that blush from anger, or realization of the truth?" Croconaw and Combusken laughed uncontrollably until Kasumi's fist collided with their heads, making them wince in pain. "Ow, you didn't have to hit us so hard…"

"That's what you get for trying to mess with me!"

"Well just remember, the first step is to admit that you have a problem." The red and yellow fowl burst into a fit of laughter, which ended abruptly with another lump on the head. Kasumi went off to spy on her friend's progress, her somewhat abused Pokémon following her.

Yuuki was sitting on top of a tree, using his binoculars to spy upon the unsuspecting twosome. He pressed a button on his earpiece, opening the channel. _"Hey Scy, you there?"_

The said mantis Pokémon stood on a treetop, peering over the leaves to see his targets. Scyther clicked on his earpiece, using the dull side of his sickles. _"Roger, Death Striker ready to pursue and eliminate tangos."_

"_Whoa, whoa, whoa! The mission was just to see what they were doing!"_

"…_So you don't want me to destroy them?"_

"_NO!"_

"…_Are you sure?"_

"_YES!"_

"…_Are you 100 percent sure, because I could—"_

"_SCYTHER!"_

"_Okay, okay, I get it!"_ Scyther sighed. _"Jeeze, one small joke and he goes ballistic! Talk about a whack job…"_

There was an audible sigh on the other side. _"Scy, I can still hear you…"_

"…_Oh right…Scyther out."_ The mantis clicked the off switch on its ear piece. Scyther swiftly leapt across the tree tops until he was close to Satoshi and Haruka, who thankfully hadn't notice him yet. They were eating peacefully under the shade of the tent like roof on the outdoor cafeteria table. Scyther couldn't make out what they were saying so he leapt through the air and landed on top of the metal roof soundlessly.

"_Can you hear them Scy?"_ Yuuki asked.

"_Very little. Going with next phase of operation."_ Scyther switched the multi communication channel in search for Ninjask's frequency when he caught something else. _"Wow, I didn't know you could get the Spanish station! Hey, this is my favorite song! Livin la viva loca!"_

"_Stay on task!"_ Yuuki chastised.

"_Oh, you're no fun!"_ Scyther pouted. _"Alright lover boy, chill out and let the master go to work."_

"_Who are you calling lover boy?"_

"…C_olonel Mustard…who do ya think, you loon?"_

"_Quit messing around and call Ninjask already!"_

With a sigh, Scyther switched to the proper channel. _"Hey Skyterror, do you read?"_

"_No I'm not reading, I'm listening." _Ninjask answered blatantly.

"_Don't get smarmy with me bug boy, I need you to help me lower down so I can listen in."_

"_You got wings you lazy bum, use em'!"_

"_I can't you idiot! I would be discovered in no time flat! You gotta come over and lower me!"_

Ninjask rolled his eyes. _"Fine, fine, I'm coming!"_ Within a few moments, Ninjask flew over the mantis and latched itself onto its back. Slowly, the bug levitated Scyther and lowered him. _"By the gods, you weigh like a billion tons! What did ya eat, Alpha Centauri?"_

"_Hey!"_ Scyther hissed quietly. _"Shut yer flippin trap! They're gonna hear you!"_

Ninjask grumbled, but said no more as he lowered him. When he got close enough, he just managed to catch some of their conversation.

"So tell me, what do you think about the whole competition thing tomorrow?" Haruka asked, staring dreamily into Satoshi's eyes.

"Well, I don't really know what we will be fighting against out there, but something tells me that it's going to be fun. What about you?"

"To be honest, I'm a bit nervous. The teams that are in this class are there for a reason. Their skill level is the same as ours or higher! It will be tough, but I know with your talent and leadership skills, we'll beat those punks!"

"_Oh brother, I could suck up better than that brain dead…_" Ninjask commented.

"_Hush, stupid one._" Scyther reprimanded. Ninjask mumbled obscenities, but continued to listen.

Satoshi scratched his head bashfully. "Thanks. But it's not going to be just me out there. All three of you guys and our Pokémon are going to be of big help. You've been doing great with your magic yourself. I'm proud to have you on my team."

Haruka blushed madly from the compliment. "Oh, it's nothing really. It's all thanks to your support and training Sato-kun." She giggled.

Ninjask made a gagging noise. "_Ugh, someone strangle them with a dirty sock. They're killing me faster than your fat behind._"

"_If you don't want me to clip those wings of yours, be quiet!_" Scyther hissed sharply, flashing his scythes to make his point. Ninjask gulped and fell into silence.

Satoshi shook his head. "Not true, Yuuki-kun has been helping you most of the time. Which reminds me…I hope I'm not being too bold but…how do you feel about him, really?"

Caught off guard, she struggled to answer. "Oh, um…well…I…"

"_Crap…I can't hold on any longer. I'm pulling out." _The Ninjask strained.

"_What? You can't pull out now! They're about to get to the really important part!" _Yuuki yelled frantically.

"_Sorry, but this apocalypse sized mantis is too heavy. I'm going!"_

Before Yuuki could protest, the bug escaped the area before collapsing into the ground, exhausted. However, Ninjask had forgotten that he was still holding Scyther, so he dropped him unceremoniously on the ground. The peeved off mantis got up and glared menacingly at the tired out bug.

"How dare you drop me AND call me fat you pest? DIE!"

Fueled by adrenaline and fear, Ninjask flew just out of reach of Scyther's sickles. The bladed bug chased him all around the court yard, both screaming at each other. Yuuki slapped his forehead and groaned. "Can't these two go five seconds without going at each others' throats?"

"I suppose not." Kasumi answered, sipping from a juice box.

"YIPE!" Yuuki jumped, almost falling out of the tree. "What are you doing here?"

"Same thing you are, spying on them." She answered calmly.

"I'm not spying on them!" He denied, hiding his binoculars. "I was merely…checking out the vie—_Scyther! You know he can't swim! No, Don't—GAH!" _He threw up his hands in aggravation._ "Look, just stay in the fountain, and try not to kill each other before I arrive."_ With a groan, he jumped down and tore after the swimming bugs. Kasumi smiled to herself, proud of her small victory.

"Hehehe, it's a start."

Back with Haruka, she was deep in thought. It was the first time anyone asked her that question. How did she feel about that crazy ninja? Sure, he was cool, sweet, and was always dependable, but did she have feelings for him? The question itself was a lot of food for thought.

"You know, he's a nice guy and all, but I'm not really sure. I would like to think he is the best friend I've ever had...but, then I'm not a hundred percent sure." She answered honestly, still pondering.

"I see…" Satoshi glanced at the fluorescent orange sky. It was nearing nightfall. "Hey, where else do you want to go?"

"Let's go to the park!"

"Sure, sounds like a plan."

While walking, she held his arm and leaned against him, sighing contently. It made Satoshi feel awkward, but he didn't want to disturb her comfort, so he kept walking along her pace.

_'The things I do to be a nice guy. Oh well, at least it isn't the red head.'_ He chuckled at the thought.

"Hey, what's so funny?"

"Oh nothing, just a funny thought." He dismissed, still chuckling. Haruka was puzzled, but brush it off at she latched back onto his arm.

Later that night, the two sat under the stars, content with the atmosphere. They were on a grassy hill that overlooked the awe inspiring sight of the park. During the time they spent, they pointed out certain spots and people that they knew. Both were having the time of their lives with each other, conversing and hanging out together.

"You know Haruka-chan, I gotta admit, today was fun and relaxing. Thanks for getting me to come."

Haruka nodded. "No problem. I enjoyed today too." When she turned to look at Satoshi, her eyes locked onto his. He had an unreadable expression on his face.

"Haruka-chan, could you close your eyes for one second?"

That one got her by surprise. "Huh?"

"Just for a second; and stand still."

Haruka nodded happily, shutting her eyes and giggling madly. _'Oh my gosh, is he going to try and kiss me under the stars? How romantic! Come on…just a little closer…'_

"Got it!" He said suddenly, baffling her. "Okay, now open your eyes." When she did the said action, she breathed in awe. The soft green luminescence of a firefly glowed in his hand. "Pretty cool huh? It was on your shirt."

Haruka hid her slight disappointment with a smile. "Yeah cool…" _'Not exactly what I was hoping for, but I guess I can settle for this. It is our first date after all.'_

Satoshi laid back on the grass, gazing upward. "Aren't the stars gorgeous tonight?"

"Yes, yes they are." She nuzzled herself against Satoshi's chest, taking his arm and wrapping his arm around her as she wrapped hers around his neck. Satoshi couldn't prevent the blush that crawled to his cheeks. They kept slient as they gazed upward.

Far behind them, Yuuki, Kasumi and their Pokémon sat in a tree, watching the scene unfold before them. "Look at them, getting all close and stuff," Yuuki growled. It wasn't long until he felt the tree vibrate. He gave the source a nervous glance. "Uh…Kasumi-chan? Could you possibly unclench your fist? The tree is starting to shake."

Realizing what she was doing, she settled down and continued to watch.

Scyther leaned over to Croconaw and Combusken, who were watching their trainers with interest. "Man, how pathetic can some people be?"

Croconaw sighed. "It's a sad sight when two jealous people resort to spying on their friends…"

Yuuki and Kasumi, who could hear them clearly, whipped around and gave them an icy stare. "WE ARE NOT JEALOUS!" They snapped.

"Then what do you call this?" Combusken asked them slyly.

"It's called curiosity." Yuuki answered.

"It's called being green with envy…"

_THWAP!_

Combusken rubbed her sore forehead, which had the imprint of a Pokéball. "Ow, I should sue you for cruelty to Pokémon!"

"Keep talking and I'll give you more reasons to do so!" Kasumi threatened, shaking her fist at the chicken.

Combusken raised its hand defensively. "Good grief you crazy woman, I was just kidding!"

"Having fun?" A voice boomed from behind, scaring them out of their wits.

"M-M-Mathisu-sensei! It's not what it looks like!" Yuuki waved his hands frantically. Kasumi was equally mortified.

"Relax," Mathisu waved off. "I was just enjoying the night with my wife and came by to say hello. By the way, this is kind of our spot. Mind if we can snag it back?"

"Oh no, not at all!" Kasumi said. "Go ahead, we were just leaving."

Yuuki stared at her blankly. "We were?"

"Yes we were!" She barked, grabbing him by the ear and dragging him away.

"Ow, quit it! That smarts!" He complained, leaving the scene. As they left, a foreign woman with dark green hair and violet eyes giggled as she leaned against her husband.

"You know that was mean right? Embarrassing those poor kids like that."

"It was all for good fun." He laughed, rubbing her shoulder. "But this is our night Natsume-chan. let's enjoy it…" The two sat together, enjoying the view.

Sometime passed, and Satoshi was getting tired. When he looked down, he noticed that Haruka was asleep. Smiling softly, he picked her up and sighed.

"First Kasumi-chan, now you, am I surrounded by quick sleepers?" He mused aloud. He was about to take her home when he noticed Yuuki passing by, trying to slip by unnoticed. "Hey Yuuki-kun!" He called.

Yuuki froze in place, turned his head slowly. "Err…h-hey man! What are you doing here?" As stupid as he felt about that question, he couldn't let him know that he had been watching them.

"Nothing really. I was hanging out with Haruka-chan when she went out like a light. Think you could take her home for me?"

Yuuki swallowed nervously. "Me, take her home? Uh…sure!" Satoshi carefully placed Haruka in his arms and yawned tiredly.

"Well, I'm going to bed. Don't stay up too long. We have a big day tomorrow." And with that, Satoshi left, leaving Yuuki by himself with Haruka in his arms. Not wasting anytime, Yuuki made his way to her apartment.

When he arrived, he opened the door and snuck in quietly; everyone in the household was asleep. He entered her room and recognized the familiarity of it. It was the typical teenage girl room. The walls and were red and stuffed teddy bears were placed on her soft red bed. There was a television and many other accessories he could point out. He had to put her in her bed quick, considering the fact that her arms were wrapped around his neck, making him feel a bit weak in the knees.

After he laid her to bed, he brought the covers up to her shoulders, making sure she wouldn't be cold. He knelt in front of her bed, face to face with her. His eyes couldn't tear away from her angelic face, resting ever so peacefully. The longer he gazed at her, the more he felt drawn in to it. A sensation suddenly hit him. Her lips was so close, so close that he could—

_'No!'_ He scolded himself. _'Don't you dare complete that thought! That is just not going to happen!'_ After battling with his desires, he sighed inwardly._ 'Fine…a kiss on the forehead won't hurt…'_ He started to lean in towards her forehead.

Fate, however, had other plans.

Haruka wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him in, tilting her head up slightly. Without warning, their lips made contact. His eyes widened immensely, shell-shocked. He felt the butterflies in his stomach turn into raging hornets as his heart started to beat furiously. The taste of her lips was intoxicating to his senses. Overtaken by his emotions, he slowly closed his eyes, savoring the sweet taste of her strawberry flavored lips. Just as quickly as it came, they parted. The only sound in the room was their breathing, though Yuuki was hyperventilating. He fell backwards, still shocked. His lips tingled from the powerful aftereffects.

When he fell back though, his back hit her table, jarring a book that was on the edge. The book started to tilt, threatening to fall.

_'CRAP!' _He cursed as the book started to fall. His hand lunged outward and grasped the book…almost. The book fell with a loud thud. His eyes widened when he heard Haruka stirring. She was waking up!

"Huh…wha?" Haruka babbled groggily, searching for the source of the noise. Her tired eyes landed on the book. When she saw that no one was there, she shrugged and fell back asleep, returning to that ever wonderful dream she was having about Satoshi.

Outside her door, Yuuki grasped his chest, almost dying from a heart attack. _'That was a close one!'_ Not wanting to risk being caught, he escaped the apartment and quickly made his way back to his house undetected.

The next day came, and it was time for the competition. All the teams stood in a lined up formation once more, awaiting instructions. It wasn't long until Hayabusa approached, accompanied by two unfamiliar people.

"Good afternoon class. Welcome to examination day. These two people and I are going to be the judges for this event. During this week, we are going to be testing your skills, teamwork, and efficiency. We will have a tournament during every other day and score according to how well you do and perform. Today's game will be a down home favorite." He pulled out a high tech looking rifle and flashed it at his students.

"Today's game: Paintball!"

* * *

See ya next chapter! Any questions or comments, leave in a review.

Hope you like this story. Tell me what ya think and catch ya laterz!


	5. Let the games begin

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon…and I would've gotten away with it too if it weren't for you meddling kids and your stupid lawyers.

Note: I've never played paintball, so if anything is incorrect, I apologize.

* * *

"Paintball?" Satoshi asked. Without any warning, Hayabusa aimed the gun and shot Satoshi in the head. Everyone gasped in horror as the samurai lay sprawled on the ground, motionless. Confused, the sensei opened the chamber to his gun and took out the ammo, checking it.

"Whoops! Looks like that one was live." He laughed nervously, receiving shocked stares from everyone.

"Oh my god! You killed Satoshi-kun!" Haruka panicked.

"You bastard!" Pikachu yelled, shaking his paw at the sensei.

Kasumi knelt next to Satoshi and took a closer look at his forehead. "He's not dead, he just fainted." She reassured nonchalantly.

The students turned their attention back to their teacher, who scratched his head bashfully. "I always wanted to do that. I didn't think he would faint like that though…" Noticing the glares from all the students, mainly from Haruka and Kasumi, he changed the subject. "Anyway, what I've just…demonstrated was basically what paintball is. You use weapons such as these to shoot people and score points. The rules are simple: The team who gets the highest score wins. However, you can only use the weapons issued to you. Pokémon, magic skills and ninja arts are forbidden. The location for this event is in the Kage Forest next to us. Do not fire your weapons until the official start of the tournament. You may now choose your weapons."

All of the students scrambled to grab their weapon of choice. Yuuki managed to nab himself a sniper rifle, Haruka and Satoshi got themselves carbine rifles, and Kasumi armed herself with dual automatic pistols. After slipping on their red protective garments, helmets, goggles, and communicative headsets, the group arrived at their designated spots in the forest. The forest itself resembled a tropical rain forest, except there was a lack of wild species. There was tall grass, and trees that had collapsed during the harsh weather.

"Alright, you may begin!" The voice of Hayabusa resounded in their headsets. Automatically, the team moved forward into the battle field. Yuuki climbed up a tall tree while the rest of the team hit the dirt.

"Ugh, my clothes are going to get _so_ dirty!" Haruka complained.

"It's only going to get worse so stall the complaining." Kasumi sniped. "Hey, Satoshi-kun, what kind of threats will we be facing this week?"

"Well, according to what I've heard, there are only four teams we need to worry about: Team Isuka, Team Tenshi, Team Zeji, and Team Rocket."

Kasumi gave him an odd look. "Team Rocket?"

Satoshi shrugged. "Stupid I know, but that's the name they're going by. Let's keep going and find some opponents." Satoshi switched the frequency in his headset to contact Yuuki. "Hey Yuuki-kun, how's it looking up there?"

"We must be far from the battle zone. We should probably sneak our way there."

"Sounds good. Yuuki-kun, be careful while you follow us. Make sure we don't get ambushed."

"Roger that." Yuuki leapt carefully from tree to tree, making sure not to be discovered.

As the rest crept along the ground, gun shots could be heard in the distance. Satoshi rolled along the ground and pinned himself behind a tree for cover. When he checked to make sure the path was clear, he signaled the others to go on and check the area. Through the thicket of the bushes, Satoshi could spot someone in the distance. Most of his features were covered by the orange colored armor, but the boy had on a samurai uniform similar to Satoshi's. His brown hair stuck out from the helmet.

Getting the signal, Yuuki carefully aimed the weapon to the boy's heart and got ready to fire. Suddenly, shots started to fly across their target's area. The startled lad quickly took cover behind a fallen tree and starting shooting wildly at the direction the attacks were coming from. After the firing calmed down, two more people approached the area.

"Dang it, I can't reach him. Satoshi-kun, you guys are going to have to take them out." Yuuki said, aiming at the opposing threat.

"Alright people, it's go time!" Satoshi switch off the safety of his weapon, ready to take them down.

Kasumi groaned. "That one liner sucked!"

Ignoring her comment, Satoshi spun out from his hiding place and aimed his weapon at the opposing threat.

_POP! POP! POP!_

Satoshi got one of them, but the other person jumped behind some cover and fired in his direction. Kasumi leapt over a fallen log and whipped out her pistols. She managed to dodge all his shots as she ran at him, guns blazing. As she was nearing him, she cursed inwardly as the rest of his teammates ambushed her. Everything went into slow motion as she lunged forward, shooting her pistols and hitting one of the guys. Following with a forward roll, she dodged more of the shots and took down another guy. The last of the opposing team was about to shoot her when she shot his gun, shifting his aim and making him miss. With her other gun, she scored a direct heart shot twice. She coolly twirled her guns and placed them in their respective holders.

"What the heck was that?" Satoshi exclaimed. "You went friggin' commando on them! Who do you think you are, Xena?"

Kasumi smirk smugly at him, flashing a victory sign. "Nah, I'm way too sexy to be compared to her."

"Could've fooled me…" He muttered under his breath. He barely avoided the shot that was aimed for his head. "I was kidding! You didn't have to shoot me!"

The brown haired boy from before stood up from his hiding place, his hand raised above his head. "Thanks for saving me! I was about to be toast until you guys showed up." He approached Satoshi and shook his hand. "The name's Hiroshi. Nice to meet ya!"

"Likewise. I'm Satoshi, and these guys are Yuuki-kun, Kasumi-chan, and Haruka-chan." He greeted back. Upon closer inspection, Satoshi could see his dark colored eyes. Hiroshi seemed very similar to himself, mainly in his aura. "So you're a samurai too?"

Hiroshi nodded. "Yeah, I'm with team Tenshi. You must be the famous team Tatsujin. I heard about how you stopped that gang of arsonist awhile back, great job!"

"Thanks."

Hiroshi heard his friends calling for him in his communicator. "Well, I got to get out of here. Let's all hang out some time. Later!" The boy ran back to his teammates.

"That guy was pretty decent." Satoshi glanced at Kasumi. "Much nicer than a certain red head…OUCH!" He rubbed his arm where the rock struck him.

"Shut it up blade boy, or you're going to get another one tossed at your head. "Kasumi threatened.

"Hey, do you hear that?" Haruka cupped her ears, listening to the sounds in the distance, "Sounds like someone's trying to sneak up on us…from the left!" She aimed at the bushes and shot two times. She missed all the shots as the man leapt from the bushes, revealing himself. His long red hair dropped below his neck as he stood up and regain his composure.

"You're…you're the arsonist samurai we defeated weeks ago!" Satoshi exclaimed, shocked.

"Yeah, it's me." The man spat. Piercing green eyes drilled into Satoshi's brown ones. "I have a name you know, and it's Kabushi."

"Alright _Kabushi_. How did you get out of jail?"

"Our families are rich, so they managed to pardon us. But I lost a lot of money thanks to you punks." Kabushi scoffed.

"Satoshi-kun, you got trouble heading your way. It looks like the guys from before!" Yuuki warned, preparing to shoot.

"Damn, it's a trap! Satoshi-kun, get behind cover!" Kasumi grabbed Haruka and took cover behind some trees and bushes.

"You may have gotten us back at the gymnasium, but you're in the forest, and without your little Pokémon or weapons to help. You shall not be accepted in the Bushido league! Prepare yourself!" Kabushi hastily took cover and reloaded his assault rifle, and Satoshi did the same.

Yuuki jumped to an adjacent tree and took aim for Kabushi. He was about to pull the trigger when a warning shot whizzed by his face, startling him. He looked straight ahead to see the snow haired female ninja aiming at him. Her aqua blue eyes were transfixed on him. Any wrong movements would mean his defeat.

"Why don't you play with me instead?" She taunted.

"And who might you be?"

"I am Ayane, and soon to be your demise." She pulled the trigger, releasing a pink ball of paint at him. Yuuki flung himself to the side to avoid the fatal shot.

The chase was on for the two ninjas as she pressured him with numerous well placed shots. Yuuki kept her at bay by shooting at her as well. Ayane cursed as she ran out of ammo. Yuuki saw his moment as his counter part was reloading her weapon. He grabbed a loose vine and used it to swing in her direction. Her weapon was finally loaded when Yuuki got in front of her in time, his gun in point blank range and ready to fire. When Yuuki's eyes caught her light blue ones, it widened with shock.

_'Wait a minute …she couldn't be!'_ The female ninja took the pause to her advantage. She jumped towards a tree a split second before Yuuki fired his weapon. They continued to jump across trees and shoot at each other.

Down below, it was an all out war. Kasumi and Satoshi were pinned down by hostile gun fire. Haruka managed to hide out of sight from them, so they didn't need to worry about her. Satoshi could barely get a shot in without being mauled by the hails of paint.

"Curses, I can't get a clear shot!" Satoshi reloaded his weapon and made an attempt to shoot them, only to be fired upon in volleys. He ducked away just in time from being shot. "Haruka-chan, how many do we got on us?"

"Let's see…we got three people on us. I tried to contact Yuuki, but he's having a hard time with their sniper. We're on our own in this one."

Satoshi gritted his teeth in frustration. These guys weren't fooling around! They were equal in numbers, but aggressive enough to put team Tatsujin in the disadvantage. What could they do? That was when he came up with a plan.

_'…it's a risk, but we got no choice.'_ Summing up his courage, he jumped across a large space and shot his rifle wildly. A shot of his landed on Kabushi, but Satoshi fell short from the nearest hiding spot, leaving him wide open. A teammate of Kabushi's was about to open fire on him when he was struck dead on the side by a bright orange ball of paint. The remaining teammate stared in horror as team Tenshi came at them with guns blazing. The third teammate got hit, but not before shooting a paintball at one of Satoshi's teammates.

"No, Kasumi-chan!" Satoshi stood up and bolted as fast as he could to push her out of the way. He successfully got her out of the way, but not without paying the price. They both landed with a grunt on the dirt, Satoshi on top. After a few moments, they opened their eyes, only to blush furiously. Their faces were an inch away, their bodies contorted together in a very compromising position. Kasumi's shocked expression was soon replaced with discomfort.

"You're not exactly light you know." She grunted, trying to move. Her patients dwindled quickly when she noticed that he didn't respond. "Satoshi-kun…move!"

Embarrassed by the fact he was staring at her, he pushed himself off quickly. "Sorry about that. I didn't think I would fall on top of you like that!" He apologized frantically. As he dusted himself, he cursed aloud when a pink substance rubbed off on his fingers. "Looks like I'm out." He sighed dejectedly.

"Hey Satoshi-kun, are you alright?" A familiar voice called out. Satoshi turned to see Hiroshi and the rest of his team ran up to them.

"No, I'm out. But thanks for saving my team." Satoshi shook his hand gratefully.

"Yeah, thanks. If it wasn't for you guys, we would've been toast thanks to captain dunderhead over here." Kasumi jerked her thumb in Satoshi's direction.

"Gee, thanks Kasumi-chan. I only just saved your ungrateful behind from getting shot." Satoshi retorted sarcastically.

"Well, I didn't need your help. You're the fool who jumped in my way."

"Fool? Why you—"

Hiroshi interrupted him before he could finish the sentence. "Anyway, I'm glad that some of you are safe. Allow me to introduce my teammates." He pointed to a tall tanned skin teen with spiky brown hair and brown fighter's uniform. His eye color was a mystery, due to the fact that it always seemed closed. "This is one of my best friends and equally good teammate Takeshi-kun." His friend didn't say anything however, since he was suddenly interested in a certain red head.

"Why hello beautiful. It must be a blessing from the gods that you are here to grace my presence with your unparalleled beauty!" Takeshi took Kasumi's hands into his own, grinning widely. "Well, if you are not busy later, why don't we—Ow, my ear!" He yelled out in pain. A teal haired girl wearing a ninja outfit dragged her overexcited friend away from Kasumi.

"Oh yeah, blue eyes there is Imite. She's really cool once you get used to her weird habits." Hiroshi chuckled when he caught her glare.

"Is it me, or are all ninja's weird in the head?" Haruka joked.

"More like crazy." Hiroshi commented.

"I can still hear you!" Yuuki and Duplica chastised.

"Well, there should be one more somewhere…ah, there she is!"

An auburn haired girl ran to catch up with her teammates. When her light blue eyes caught Kasumi and Satoshi, she gasped. "Oh my gosh, Kasumi-chan!" She ran and hugged her red headed friend.

"Furuura-chan? You're in team Tenshi?" Kasumi asked.

"Yeah, isn't it awesome?" She then noticed Satoshi waving at her. "Oh yeah, you're the guy who got throttled by her sometime ago!"

Satoshi groaned loudly. "I didn't get throttled! I was merely caught off guard."

"Feh, my behind." Kasumi scoffed.

"No one asked you carrot head." He retorted coolly.

"Your comments aren't necessary superman-wannabe."

"Your snide remarks aren't helping either fat face."

Kasumi glared dangerously at him, teal eyes brimming with fury. "Who are you calling a fat face you idiot?"

"The only fat face around here, fat face!" Satoshi glared back at her.

"Don't call me that fool!"

"I can call you whatever I want tomboy!"

"Not while I'm still alive you nut job!"

"Quit being such a pain you Amazon!"

The attack of insults continued for over five minutes, and with no end in sight. Hiroshi noticed the wink that came from Haruka and Yuuki. Getting the message, he relayed it to his comrades who agreed. Kasumi was about to knock out the smart mouth samurai when she noticed the looks she was getting.

"What are you grinning about? And why are you aiming your gun at…oh crap…"

_POP! POP! POP! POP!_

"What was that for?" Kasumi roared, covered in orange paint.

"Last I checked we were still in the game. Besides, now you and Satoshi can spend more time arguing together." Hiroshi sniggered.

"Hey Kasumi-chan, your vest matches your hair." Satoshi howled with laughter.

"Bite me!" Kasumi snapped, storming her way to the elimination benches.

"Well anyway, with the game still in progress, we should get going. See ya." And with that, Hiroshi and his team ran off to find more opponents. Yuuki jumped down from the tree and landed next to Haruka.

"It sucks that you're out. Don't worry though, me and Haruka-chan will take these guys down for ya." Yuuki gave Satoshi the thumbs up.

Satoshi nodded in response, "Alright now. Just be careful, we'll be rooting for you." He left to catch up with Kasumi.

"Alright Haruka-chan, let's go kick some butt!"

"Yeah!" The two ran deep into the forest, scouting and taking out any opponents.

While traversing the forest, Yuuki's mind went over that battle he had with that female ninja. Right when he was about to shoot her, he caught a glimpse of her azure eyes. He was struck with a flashback.

_A five year old Yuuki hugged his knees while sitting in a corner, trembling violently. His ruby eyes were overflowing with tears as he stared at the three bodies that lay before him. Most of his body was covered with blood._

"_I…I didn't do it! It isn't my fault!" He cried._

"_Of course it is. You know what you did." A dark voice chided. "It is all your fault! They died because of you! They suffered because of you!"_

"_But…but…" Yuuki trailed off. His gaze lowered and dulled as he hugged his knees tighter. "…it is my fault…it is all my fault…" He chanted quietly, warm tears trailing down his cheek. The words repeated itself over and over in his head._

_It is all your fault…they died because of you…they suffered because of you…_

"_I…I am nothing but…"_

…_a murderer…_

"Yuuki-kun?" Haruka called, bringing him out of his thoughts.

"Yeah?"

"I've been calling you for the last five minutes. You alright?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm alright. I just had a lot on my mind," He waved off, "Anyway, what's going on?"

"I think there are some people up ahead. We should split up, but not keep far apart in case we need some covering fire. I'll go west. You keep the east covered, alright?"

"Sure. If you need anything, let me know."

"Okay." They went their separate directions.

Yuuki stepped cautiously into unknown land, keeping an eye out for any hostiles. As he continued his trek, he bumped into another player and stumbled backwards. He was about to paint his target red when he noticed that the raven haired boy was already out.

And it was the work of Kabushi's team, Team Rocket.

Yuuki picked up the dark eyed boy and apologized. After thanking him, the boy was about to leave when the samurai asked Yuuki a question.

"Excuse me, but do you know anything about team Isuka?"

"Team Isuka? What about them?"

"There is a girl on their team named Marina, do you know her? She has cyan hair and blue eyes. She's also a samurai."

"Marina-san…I don't know her, sorry."

"It's okay; I didn't think you would know anyhow. If you find her, tell her that Kenta will be waiting for her in the elimination benches."

"No problem! Later!" Yuuki waved as Kenta retreated back to the elimination stand. "Alright, let's see how Haruka-chan is doing?" With the flick of a switch, he opened the communication channel. "Haruka-chan, how's it going with you?"

The said girl had just taken down a team member when she answered the called. "So far so good. I got a kill!"

"Awesome! Keep it up! I'm going to scout around some more. Be careful and don't take any chances."

"Yes mom." Haruka joked before switching off the channel. She picked up the cyan haired girl that she had taken down and shook her hand. "That was a tough shootout. You got it going on with that gun."

"Yeah, thanks." The girl smiled warmly. "Say, do you know where I could find team Zeji?"

"Team Zeji?"

"Yes, I have a friend that I'm looking for, but I can't find him anywhere. I hope he wasn't eliminated yet…"

"I wouldn't worry about him. I'm sure he might be around somewhere. What's his name?"

"Kenta; he has raven hair and eyes. If you find him, tell him that Marina is looking for him, okay?"

"Sure. Wish me luck!" And with that, Marina left for the elimination area. Haruka continued her way to spot more opponents. She only made a short distance when she saw two teams going at each other, and it looked like they were playing for keeps. Stealthily, she made her way to the battle grounds to get a closer look on the action.

On one team, a blue haired man took cover behind some bushes and trees. Next to him was a green haired man. They were ducking and shoot alternately. The two boys were dressed in fighter and magician uniforms respectively.

She glanced upward and noticed another boy with black hair shooting at the other team's sniper. He was clearly a ninja.

The other team had two females and one male. The fighter had light blue eyes and dark red hair while the mage was a blonde with dark blue eyes. The male ninja had teal hair and dark blue eyes.

With the way they were fighting at each other, she could only guess that they were rivals. She was in thought when her communicator came to life.

"Haruka-chan, what's your status?" Yuuki asked.

"I'm watching the fight between Team Zeji and Team Isuka. You?"

"Look up ahead." Yuuki waved at her from the top of a tree. "This fight seems serious. And with the way it's going at it, we should probably just leave them alone. By the way, did you happen to meet a girl name Marina-san?"

"Yeah." A thought struck her. "You wouldn't have happened to meet someone named Kenta-san, did you?"

"As a matter of fact, you're right. He got eliminated so he's on his way to the stands."

"Yeah, Marina-san got killed too. But anyway, let's move on."

"Right." They both separated again, scouting and taking down more hostiles.

Hour and a half later, the competition ended and with the current standings.

1 - Team Tenshi

2 - Team Tatsujin

3 - Team Zeji

4 - Team Isuka

5 - Team Rocket

And so on…

An exhausted Yuuki and Haruka shuffled their way towards the rest of their team, covered in dirt, sweat, and paint. They held onto each other for support.

"How did we do?" Yuuki asked, slightly flushed that he was holding onto Haruka.

"Second place, not too bad at all. Good job!" Satoshi praised, patting him on the back.

"You guys were pretty awesome back there. Too bad Team Tenshi ambushed you." Kasumi shrugged.

"They didn't even lose a single team member the entire time! That's what I call skill. But anyway, thanks to the competition, we have no school Tuesday and Thursday. Since our next competition will start on Wednesday, what do you think we should do?" Haruka inquired.

"How about a sleepover?" Hiroshi suggested. The rest of his team was behind him.

"Hiroshi-kun!" Satoshi piped, giving a high five to his new best friend. "You're inviting us to your sleepover?"

"Sure, you guys seem pretty cool. I rented a large room so that my friends could spend the night. You and your Pokémon could come along too. So, whatcha think?"

"What do I think?" Satoshi asked incredulously. "Count me in!" He sealed the deal with a handshake.

"Cool, I'll see you guys 6 o'clock sharp. Bring snacks, sleeping bags, whatever you can. It's going to be a celebration night!"

"What's the occasion? Your victory?"

"Not just that. To new friends!" He cheered.

"Nice. See you guys at 6!" Satoshi left with the others to prepare for the party.

Hours later, Haruka's father, Normu, dropped them and Shigeru off at the lavish hotel that was outside the school. The hotel itself looked exquisite and rich, like a place fit for a king. As the group went inside, they gasped at the awesome sight. The beige marble floor was smooth and polished. Almost everything was either made out of gold, or some kind of expensive wood material. The stained glass on the ceiling had pictures of different gods and warriors on it.

What caught Satoshi's eye were the five warriors that were highlighted in the colored glass. They were famous throughout the land as the founders of Arcadia, and saviors of Gaetia.

Many years ago, Gaetia was ruled by a cruel emperor. The emperor drained the life and resources of all that he had ruled over. It wasn't until the five heroes, also known as the elements, revolted and overthrew him. After liberating the land, cities were built in their honor, each named after the element they represented.

Aka city, named after Rayla, the flame.

Midori city, named after Hotsuma, the wind.

Aoi city, named after Undine, the water.

Cha city, named after Orca, the earth.

And Ki city, named after Balicula, the lightning.

Satoshi's thoughts were interrupted when he heard his friends requesting him to follow. After searching for the correct room to go to, Satoshi and gang traveled down the elaborate hallway to find the room that Hiroshi rented. When they entered, his eyes lit up like fireworks. The living room was chock full of pillows, comforters, food, and everything else that would make any teen drool. The room itself connected to the bathroom and a den big enough for all of their Pokémon to play and sleep in.

"Sweet room!" Satoshi praised, starry eyed.

"Thanks." Hiroshi rubbed his neck bashfully. "My dad owns this hotel, so I can hang out here whenever I do well in class."

"Your dad owns this hotel?" Everyone gasped.

"Yep! But hey, let's let our Pokémon out to have some fun!"

Everyone did as suggested and released their Pokémon inside the den. The Pokémon looked around, amazed by their new surroundings.

"Hey, this place is pretty sweet!" Scyther commented.

Marowak held his chin and nodded. "Yes, it is very impressive."

"You got some cool Pokémon." Hiroshi complimented.

"Thanks. What kind of Pokémon do you have?" Satoshi asked.

"Oh, all of our Pokémon are already inside. But let's let them get acquainted a bit more while we go grab something to eat."

"Sure. Alright you guys, play safe." Satoshi and everyone else left them to their own devices. Arcanine chose a spot to rest while the other's scattered to meet the other Pokémon.

The den resembled a large ballroom with an extravagant amount of space available. Pokémon of many kinds conversed and played with each other.

The dynamic trio also known as Scyther, Shedinja and Ninjask waltzed around, trying to meet the other Pokémon.

Scyther's eyes caught sight of his evolved counterpart, Scizor, standing by herself in a corner, looking out the window. The evolved Scyther's sickles were replaced with sharp pincers. Its crimson skin shone brilliantly under the light from the chandelier. Ninjask caught the glint in Scyther's eye as he made his way towards the Steel/bug Pokémon.

"…You can't be serious; again with this?" Ninjask groaned.

"Ah, didn't this happen once before?" Shedinja inquired.

"Yeah, with that psychic Haruka-chan has."

"…Should we stop him?"

"And miss out on him making a fool of himself? No way!" Ninjask flew overhead to spy on the mantis.

Scyther smoothed back the fur on his head and coolly walked towards Scizor. "Hello beautiful." Scyther called, catching her attention. "You're too fine to be here all by your lonesome. Care to grace me with your presence?"

Her orange eyes glanced at him. "And who would you be?"

"I am yours for the taking." He replied coolly.

"Is that so?" She raised an eyebrow, "And why should I want to accompany you?"

"For the sole fact that I wish to understand the mystery under the beauty."

A grin graced her features. "In that case, come with me…" She winked and walked towards an empty room. Excited, Scyther eagerly followed her into the dark room, closing the door behind them. Ninjask leaned his ear on the door. He could hear a few grunts and some movement. Before he knew it, a battered Scyther flew through the door, knocking the Ninjask down and out. The Scizor smirked smugly at the downed mantis. "That's what idiots like you get for being so naive." Triumphant, she walked back towards the window to gaze at the night sky.

"…Pathetic…" Shedinja groaned, floating away.

Kirlia floated over to Scyther and used her psychic powers to help him up. "Are you alright?"

Scyther dusted himself off, trying to play off the brutal beating he had just gotten. "I am perfectly fine. We merely had…a disagreement."

"More like a beat down," She retorted, "You Scythers are all alike, trying to act cool when you're a loser."

"Why Kirlia, I'm hurt…" Scyther dramatically placed his claw over his heart. "How could you call me a loser? Can't I dream? Can't I take a chance to find true love?"

"Quit the drama, its getting old." Kirlia floated to another area, leaving Scyther to himself.

_'Feh, she's just jealous.' _He concluded, sulking.

Elsewhere, Marowak walked aimlessly throughout the ballroom, bored out of his mind. He was about to go and find Pikachu when he came across a female Marowak, one that caught his interest.

"Hello there." He started calmly. "I must say, you are quite lovely. If you aren't busy, maybe we could get together?" His hopes were destroyed when the other Marowak burst into laughter.

"Same old bonehead." She joked. Her laughing subsided when Marowak's bone club smashed her head. He released an exasperated sigh.

"You never change you crazy Ditto."

Ditto transformed back to her original form, which was a pink blob looking Pokémon. The transformable Pokémon collapsed into a fit of giggles. "It was so funny watching you look so shot down."

"Keep talking and I'll beat you into submission." He snarled.

"Don't be like that; you know I was only joking. Besides, we go way back so it's your fault for not recognizing me sooner."

"Anyway, who are your new friends?" He gestured the other Pokémon.

"There are eight of us. There's Scizor and Espeon which are with Furuura-chan, me and Haunter who hang with Imite-chan, Mightyena and Serviper are with to Takeshi-kun, and Pikachu and Kadabra hang out with Hiroshi-kun."

"That's quite the group. Anything about them I should know for my own safety?"

"They all have their quirks, but it is nothing to be afraid of…much."

Marowak heard Pikachu and Umbreon calling him. "Well, it looks like my time is up for now. Farewell." Marowak retreated to meet with the others.

With the humans, they spent the last few hours eating and chatting with each other. When Hiroshi saw that it was 10 o'clock, he grinned evilly.

"Hey you guys, its time."

"Time for what?" Satoshi asked.

"It's time for a little game called truth or dare."

"What's that?" Yuuki and Satoshi asked simultaneously. Everyone stared at them in disbelief.

"You two don't know what truth or dare is?" The two shook their heads. Hiroshi's grin grew wider. "It's a simple game where we ask each other truth or dare. If that person chooses truth, then they must answer a question honestly. If they choose dare, then they must do whatever the other person asks them to do. Once that person is done, he or she can then ask someone else a question. Got it?" They nodded, eager to get started. "Cool, let's play."

Everyone sat on the floor in a circle. They sat in the following sequence:

Hiroshi

Imite

Satoshi

Haruka

Takeshi

Furuura

Shigeru

Kasumi

Yuuki

"Now that everyone's in place, Shigeru-san, why don't you go first?"

"Don't mind if I do." Shigeru scanned the seating arrangements for his victim. A wicked grin was plastered on his face as his eyes laid on Satoshi. Who better than his little brother? "Sato-kun, truth or dare?"

Satoshi really didn't like the look he was giving him. The question sounded more like embarrassment or humiliation. Either way, there was no way he could get out of it. "Alright, dare." He challenged. Shigeru's grin widened.

Wrong choice.

Shigeru had it all planned. "Alright, I dare you to massage Kasumi's shoulders…shirtless."

"WHAT?" Kasumi and Satoshi shouted, completely red in the face. The entire room was filled with laughter, and a dark glare from Haruka.

"You gotta do it…unless you two are sissies or something…" Shigeru taunted. He knew exactly how to push his buttons.

Satoshi gritted his teeth, but was silent as he started to take off his shirt. As the top of his school Hakama slipped off, the girls couldn't help but raise an eyebrow of interest, Haruka nearly fainted. His body was very well developed and toned. Not too muscular, but was ripped. Duplica and Furuura whistled in response, drowning Satoshi in embarrassment.

He knelt behind Kasumi and firmly placed his hands on her shoulders. Kasumi had to clench her fist tightly to prevent the smile that was about to unveil itself. It felt good, _really_ good, but she would never say that out loud.

She would never hear the end of it.

After a few minutes, Satoshi stopped abruptly and sat back at his spot, putting his clothes back on. He glared dangerously at his brother.

He was going down when he got the chance.

It was now Satoshi's turn to choose. It wouldn't be right to choose Shigeru at the moment; otherwise no one else would get a turn. His eyes landed Yuuki, who was having a ball at his expense. There was his next target!

"Yuuki-kun, truth or dare?"

The ninja caught the glare and stopped laughing immediately. With the way he looked, choosing dare would be suicide, so the easier path it is. "I choose truth!"

Satoshi was slightly disappointed, but had a backup plan. "Is it true that you have a crush on someone?"

He tensed up instantly at those words. Everyone's eyes were on him. He could feel the blood rushing to his cheeks as his gaze lowered. "…Yes." He would've been grateful if he didn't realize what Satoshi was doing. He was making him nervous on purpose! Kasumi didn't seem to be phased at all by the answer, though Haruka was curious.

Now it was his turn, and he knew what to do. But first, he had to buy time in order to make it perfect. "Takeshi-san, truth or dare?"

"Truth." The tanned teen answered immediately.

"Out of curiosity, why are your eyes always closed?"

Even Takeshi's own teammates got curious. He guessed that no one really knew up to now. "Quite simply, chicks dig mystery."

"I should've known girls had something to do with it." Hiroshi groaned.

"Anyway—"

"Hold it!" Hiroshi interrupted. "Takeshi-kun, remember, no freaky or dirty stuff. Keep it clean!"

"Yeah, yeah, I know the drill," Takeshi waved blatantly. "Kasumi-san, truth or dare?"

"Dare." She answered, feeling bold.

"Let's see…how about…"

"Wait a second!" Furuura interrupted. She leaned in and whispered into his ear. Takeshi's grin crescendo as she explained the dare. "Alright Kasumi-san, you have to sit on Satoshi's lap and flirt with him." Kasumi's eyes widened as the others' roared in laughter.

"Nice one!" Shigeru complimented, giving Furuura the thumbs up.

"There is no way I'm going to do that!" She denied. Satoshi narrowed his eyes.

It was time to share the pain.

"Oh I see, so I guess that mean I'm braver than you, considering I went through my dare."

"Is that so?" She huffed. _'That's it; he is SO going to regret those words!' _She got up and walked up to him slowly, wiggling her hips as she moved. In one smooth motion, she sat on Satoshi's lap and wrapped her arms around his neck. Her emerald eyes gazed in his brown ones as she smiled seductively. Satoshi started to sweat when her fingers trailed down his chest.

She was good.

"Now, what were you saying me not being brave Sato-kun?" Her sensual voice sent shivers down his spine. He was getting dizzier by the second, feeling overwhelmed.

"Well…err…I…you…" He felt pathetic. He couldn't even form a coherent sentence!

Everyone was rolling with laughter at this point, but even the guys were impressed. Haruka was a little jealous. Kasumi flicked his nose with her finger, bringing him back to reality real quick.

"That's what you get for calling me a coward!" She scoffed, feeling victorious. When Kasumi made it back to her seat, the game continued. Her eyes landed on Haruka, who didn't know what would happen. But that wasn't her target…yet. "Hiroshi-san, truth or dare?"

Hiroshi swallowed hard, scared of her venomous voice. "T-truth!"

"Okay, if you could choose between Furuura-chan and Imite-san, who would it be?"

"W-what?" That question put him on the spot. The said girls stared at him, truly curious on his thoughts. He liked both girls, so how could he choose? He took a deep breath before answering. "I choose…F-Furuura-chan." He admitted. He was glad when he saw that Imite was surprised and not disappointed. Furuura on the other hand seemed…happy about the idea, though he couldn't tell. At least it was his turn now. "Furuura-chan, truth or dare?"

It didn't take her long to answer. "Truth."

"How long have you known Kasumi-san?"

She was surprised that he asked such a simple question. "I've known her ever since we were 6 years old."

Satoshi glanced at her. _'10 years…maybe she might know…'_

It was Furuura's turn now, and according to what Kasumi had told her, she knew what to do. "Haruka, truth or dare?"

"I say…dare!"

Furuura grinned, thankful for that answer. "I dare you, with all your heart, to kiss Satoshi!"

"This is ridiculous! What am I, a target?" Satoshi exasperated. Haruka didn't waste anytime to jump at the chance. She pressed her soft lips onto Satoshi's. During the kiss, Haruka felt something odd. She was hoping for that wonderful, powerful kiss she had always dreamt of, but something was off. It was different, great in its own right, but not what she truly desired. But then again, she wasn't entirely sure. Kasumi took great pleasure in seeing the flames of jealousy that emanated from Yuuki. Yuuki closed his eyes and sighed dejectedly.

_'It's just a dare…' _He chanted repeatedly in his head.

After a few intense moments, Satoshi and Haruka parted, trying to catch their breath. The look on Haruka's face clearly read confusion. It took her a moment to think of what to say. She hoped that he would choose the right one. "Yuuki-kun, truth or dare?"

Still feeling down, he picked a random one from the top of his head. "Dare…"

She released a sigh in relief. "I dare you to kiss me." Everyone gasped at the request. Yuuki stared at her disbelievingly.

"W-w-w-what did you say?"

"I dare you to kiss me." Haruka repeated. Her expression was determined and serious. Taking a deep breath, Yuuki closed his eyes and leaned in until his lips met hers. They stayed in position for the exact amount of time her and Satoshi. When they parted, Yuuki was happy, but confused. Haruka however, was even more confused than before. Hiroshi glanced at the clock. It was half past 11.

"Hey you guys, I think we should do one more then call it quits for the night. Go on Yuuki-kun, it's your move."

Yuuki's eyes immediately darted towards Kasumi. It was payback time! "Kasumi-chan, truth or dare?"

"Fine, dare!" Kasumi smirked smugly. _'There's no way this idiot could come up with a decent dare.'_

"I dare you to make out with Satoshi!"

The room grew dead quiet. Everyone stared at him in sheer shock. No one expected Yuuki to come up with something so evil yet brilliant. Even Shigeru was impressed. Kasumi's eyes widened to the max.

_'I just had to open my BIG mouth!' _She thought despairingly.

Wordlessly, she got up and used every ounce of restraint to stop herself from strangling the grinning ninja; though the thought was very tempting at the moment. As she slowly walked towards Satoshi, she noticed that he hadn't moved or said a single word about it. Did he want her to do that? She didn't know. Being that she was a woman of honor, this was a challenge she had to accept. As she knelt down in front of him, she hesitated, feeling extremely edgy. Her arms wrapped around his neck as she leaned in. She was inches away from his face when she stopped abruptly. Her nervousness was quickly replaced with relief, and intense aggravation.

Satoshi fainted.

"I guess the pressure was too much for him." Shigeru shrugged. "Too bad, I would've paid to see that."

"Look on the bright side Kasumi-chan; at least you won't have to go through with—Kasumi-chan!" Furuura gasped, holding back her raging red headed friend from strangling the fainted samurai.

"How dare he faint on me! I'll kill him with my bare hands!" Kasumi growled frighteningly.

"Tonight was fun, but I think we should get some sleep." Hiroshi chuckled lightly, helping Shigeru pick Satoshi up.

"Wait a second!" Shigeru said, gaining everyone's attention. "If you guys want to see something funny, come with me." It was then that they followed him to Satoshi's bed. When Shigeru laid him in bed, he turned and motioned his finger to his lips, telling them to keep quiet. He leaned in and whispered something in his ear. After a few moments, he stepped back and smirked.

"Kasumi-chan's…sexy…" Everyone had to bite their tongues to prevent the chuckle that nearly escaped their lungs. Kasumi, who was mortified, reddened considerably.

"Quit it!" Kasumi seethed through gritted teeth.

"Wait, one more…" Shigeru leaned in and whispered some more words. Afterwards, he stepped back again. Kasumi could tell it was something bad, considering that he was giggling like a giddy schoolgirl.

"Kasumi-chan…" Satoshi whispered. Shigeru motioned her to listen closely. Curious, she leaned in until she was an inch away. The other's couldn't see or hear since it was dark, but in an instant, Kasumi stormed out of the room, completely red in the face. Shigeru was literally rolling on the ground, chuckling madly. Everyone stared at him like he had lost his mind.

"What did he say?" Imite asked quietly.

Shigeru wiped the tears of laughter from his eyes. "Can't tell ya. You gotta ask Kasumi-chan that, but I doubt you should ask her tonight, that is if you value you life." Shigeru continued to laugh as he went to bed, leaving everyone baffled and curious. Nonetheless, everyone went to bed, all of them tired out.

Kasumi, however, couldn't sleep whatsoever. She continued to toss back and forth in her bed. That single event echoed itself in her head, permanently etched in her memory.

_Kasumi leaned in, trying to hear what he was about to say. Without warning, he placed an affectionate peck on her lips. The second their lips parted, he whispered a few words softly, a loving smile plastered on his face._

"…_I love you…"

* * *

_

Hehehehe, didn't see that coming did ya? Well, here's chapter five. I've been waiting for the next chapter for quite awhile. Keep those reviews coming! It's what's been helping me!


	6. Wonder twin powers, activate?

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, but I do own you! Mwuhahahaha!

Claimer: I do own all original characters, so hands off!

* * *

"Satoshi-kun, wake up!" Pikachu called, bouncing on top of him. It lasted until the aggravated swordsman flipped his covers, throwing Pikachu off the bed.

"Must you always wake up me like this?" Satoshi exasperated. He tilted his head backwards and held the bridge of his nose, his head throbbing. "How did I get in bed?"

"From what I heard, you fainted while playing a game. That's really…pathetic." Marowak said, sitting against Satoshi's bed.

Satoshi suddenly remembered the truth or dare game. If he didn't know better, he would've guessed that everyone was against him…or at least his brother. Next chance he got, he was going to make Shigeru pay. As he thought about it, the game wasn't too bad once he wasn't being targeted; at least he got some good information about it. If he could talk to Furuura when there was time, he could probably find out more about Kasumi's past. Also during the game, he discovered that his guess about Yuuki's feelings were true.

He groaned when he remembered the reason why he fainted, it couldn't be helped. With the way Kasumi was flirting with him, then that evil dare Yuuki was going to make her do, it was enough to overwhelm him. At least he didn't have to do the last one…even though he probably wouldn't have mind. Noting the impatient looks from Pikachu and Marowak, he got up from the bed and stretched.

_'Well, no time like the present. Time to get on with the day.'_ Satoshi concluded. Recalling Marowak and gathering his belongings, he stepped out into the living room. Upon arrival, Satoshi greeted Hiroshi, who was talking to Imite and Takeshi.

"About time you woke up. Ready to go?" Hiroshi asked.

"Yeah, but did you see where my friends went?"

"They're waiting for you at the lobby. Me and my team are going to be here for a little bit so you go ahead. I'll see you at the next competition Wednesday."

"See ya then." Satoshi waved as he went down the halls to the main lobby.

In that same lobby, Yuuki was busy telling Scyther to let Ninjask live while the girls and Shigeru sat in the chairs, waiting for Satoshi to come. Yuuki managed to somewhat forget what transpired last night, but for the girls however, it wasn't that easy.

Until the late hours of the night, Haruka had been awake, trying to find out whether she was meant to be with Satoshi or not. The kiss from the boys brought about more question then she had expected. Her thoughts went back to when Satoshi asked Yuuki whether he had a crush on someone. She and Yuuki had always told each other what was on their minds, or if there was a problem they had. That issue with the inside of his house was enough to blow her away. Then, there was that mysterious person who had been tormenting Yuuki, and now he had a crush on someone and he didn't tell her?

The boy was an enigma. Just how many secrets could one person have?

Haruka desperately wanted answers. Her thoughts went back to one event in the past. A long time ago, she had bought many spell books from the library out of sheer inspiration. She faintly remembered, but there was a spell that was perfect for this kind of situation. First, she would use it on Satoshi to determine how he felt about her. That was her main objective. Taking a break from thinking, her attention was directed to Kasumi, who was in deep contemplation and looked livid. Just what was she thinking about anyway?

Kasumi's eyebrow furrowed with the thoughts of last night. She was positively infuriated! It was as if Shigeru had planned this out from the beginning, and conspired with Hiroshi's team. Did they think she liked him or something? Blasphemy! After what happened to her parents, and her past experiences with men, she had given up on the male species entirely. After so many heartbreaks, one starts to see men for what they really were.

But…she had to admit, Satoshi was very different from the rest…in more ways than one. He just had a way of making anything fun or exciting, even arguments! The way he talked about his dream of becoming a master swordsman sounded like something from a book or anime. Her mind went back to when he was massaging her. It felt like a miracle. The pain she had in her shoulders from her two weeks of training disappeared. He didn't look half bad either, and he _seemed_ nice. _Seemed_ was the keyword. She didn't know what he was really like, or if that was the real him. Only a fool would trust someone after being with them for only a month, and she was no fool. It would be great if he was really like that, but as her past experience taught her, not everything is what is seems. Yuuki proved that theory single-handedly.

What really irked her was what Shigeru made him say. She couldn't sleep most of the night because of that. It was an irresistibly sweet moment that almost took down her defenses. All she knew was that if she wanted to avoid being hurt again, she would have to push that out of her mind…and be even stronger. She would not be toyed with, never again!

It was then that the man of the hour had arrived, wearing his trademark grin. "Sorry for the wait, shall we go?" Satoshi asked.

"It's about time." Yuuki grunted, holding Scyther and Ninjask in a headlock. Satoshi shot him a questioning look. "…Don't ask."

"So Sato-kun…" Shigeru started, grinning widely. "How did you sleep last night?"

"Oh, I slept pretty well. I heard that I fainted though." Satoshi answered.

"Do you remember anything you said or did last night?" Shigeru glanced at Kasumi, who was leering at him. It was never ending fun teasing them.

Satoshi shook his head. "No, nothing. Why, did I say or do something weird last night?"

"Heck yes…" Kasumi muttered under her breath.

"I'm glad you asked. Kasumi-chan here knows exactly what you did. Isn't that right Kasumi-chan?" Shigeru had to bite his tongue to prevent laughing out loud.

"If you value your life, stop it with the jokes!" Kasumi whispered venomously. Getting the hint, Shigeru backed off…for now.

Satoshi, who was confused, shrugged. "Well, let's go then."

After getting dropped off, Haruka immediately set off for her room. When she arrived, she tossed books left and right, searching for the spell book. After minutes of rummaging, she pulled out a thick green book with special markings on the cover. Success! She leafed through the pages until her eyes landed on the spell called _Destiny bond_. It was more advanced then the Pokémon's version. It didn't require any materials, and it looked fairly easy to do. The only requirement was that you needed an item that will allow the transfer. The spell allowed the user to link themselves with the person they shared the item with in many, many ways.

"Okay, so first I need to find something…" She looked around the house for anything useful. When she passed by the kitchen, she saw an empty canteen and grinned. It was just what she needed. She saw another one and got a wicked idea. _'Let's see how much fun Kasumi will have being linked with Yuuki.'_ She thought sinisterly. Grabbing the two bottles, she immediately dashed to her room.

An hour and a half later, Haruka received a phone call from Kasumi, letting her to know that the gang was getting together for lunch in the outdoor cafeteria. The mage gathered her "special" drinks and brought them to lunch. When Haruka arrived, Kasumi was the first person she saw. Plan in mind, she approached Kasumi.

"Hiya Kasumi-chan." Haruka greeted cheerfully.

"How's it going?"

"Everything's fine. I've actually come up with a new drink…and I wanted you to try it out. Think you can do it for me?"

Kasumi shrugged. "Sure, why not?" She grabbed one of the bottles and took a sip of it. It tasted like regular orange juice. "This doesn't taste any different from orange juice. What did you do to it?"

Haruka almost panicked. "Oh, nothing special, just a little here and there." She fibbed. As the girls sat down on a bench, Haruka placed the bottles next to her. It wasn't until later that Satoshi arrived.

"Hey you guys, how are ya?" Satoshi greeted. "Yuuki-kun said that he'll be here in a minute, so we should wait here for him."

"Alright, but before hand, would you like some of my orange juice?" Haruka offered. She grabbed one of the bottles and handed it to him.

"Sure, thanks." He happily accepted the bottle. As soon as he drank it, a surge of emotions hit him, along with strange voices and feelings that weren't his own.

'_Great, why did this idiot have to show up? Can't he leave me alone?' _The voice said.

'_What the heck was that?'_ Satoshi thought, bewildered.

'_What was that voice? Am I going crazy?_' The voice spoke again.

'_Wait a second...that voice…Kasumi-chan?'_

'…_Satoshi-kun? That can't be right! It's impossible!'_ Kasumi thought, frantic. She shot him a shocked glance, and he returned it with an equally surprise stare.

'_Oh…crap…'_ They thought, stupefied. Not only could they hear each others thoughts, they could read each other's minds!

Haruka glanced back and forth between them. _'What's with those two? Shouldn't my spell be working by now? I should be able to hear Satoshi-chan's thoughts…'_

'_Wow, this orange juice is great!'_ A voice praised. Haruka froze, wide eyed.

'_That voice! Don't tell me…'_ She quickly whipped around and saw Yuuki behind them, drinking one of her canteens. To say that she was furious would be a great underestimate. "YUUKI-KUN!" She screeched, surprising him.

"Oh, hey Haruka-chan! This is some good orange juice you have…uh…why are you looking at me like that? …Should I've asked first?"

_POW!_

Kasumi and Satoshi stared in confusion when Haruka punched Yuuki in the face. Instantaneously, a bruise appeared on Haruka's cheek when her fist landed, knocking them both down. Yuuki was used to her punches, but Haruka was knocked out thanks to her fist. Yuuki, who had no idea what was going on, panicked when he saw Haruka sprawled out on the floor.

"What happen? Haruka-chan, wake up! Why are you on the floor?" He asked rapidly. The rest of the group picked her up and carried her to Satoshi's dorm, still confused about what was going on.

One hour later, Haruka woke up on a soft bed. When her blurry vision cleared, she was met with a very amused face. It was Shigeru. She soon found herself on Satoshi's bed.

"Good afternoon sunshine." Shigeru greeted.

Haruka stared at him. "Wha…what happened?" She asked, still dazed.

"To put it simply, you knocked yourself out. But that's what happens when you use the destiny bond spell."

"How did you know?"

"Well for one, as Sato-kun so clearly stated, you punched Yuuki but got knocked out in the process. My brother is also complaining about the fact that he could hear Kasumi-chan's voice in his head. It's not that hard to guess. Obviously, you tried to use the spell on my brother, but instead, Yuuki drank the wrong bottle…right?"

Haruka stared at him in surprise. "How on earth did you figure all that out?"

Shigeru grinned. "Let's just say I was met with the same situation once before. It's not exactly original. But enough about that, your friends are in my living room waiting for you. But before you go, listen to my advice: Try not to tell Yuuki-kun about it. Sato-kun and Kasumi-chan already figured it out, but Yuuki-kun is still in the dark. Perhaps, you could use this to your advantage…" He left the sentence hanging as he walked out of the room, leaving her to her thoughts.

As she thought about it, Shigeru did bring up a good point. All the questions that she had wondered about Yuuki could be answered. It was a blessing in disguise, but wouldn't she be invading into lands unknown and forbidden? What if she heard things that she shouldn't hear? Good thing thoughts could only be heard within earshot range; otherwise, Yuuki would be furious.

With the plan in mind, she stood up and opened the door, only to be greeted with two very unhappy faces.

"What on earth did you do to us?" Satoshi and Kasumi interrogated.

"Err…well…you see…" She stuttered.

"It's obvious she was trying a new spell, but it went haywire and unexpectedly affected the drinks. Right Haruka-chan?" Shigeru winked at her from the side.

"Yeah, that's it!" Haruka sighed in relief. She grimaced when she realized what this meant for her plans. At least she had a secondary objective, namely Yuuki.

"How long does this spell last?" Satoshi asked, bringing her out of her thoughts.

"Umm…2 days…" She answered timidly. She was in for it now...

"WHAT?" Kasumi shrieked. "You mean I am going to have him in my head for 2 whole days?"

"Aw man! That means we're going to be like this for tomorrow's competition!" Satoshi's shoulders slumped forward. "It's official: I'm so screwed!"

"I don't believe so. As a matter of fact, this could be a good thing." Shigeru mused sagely.

"Are you saying having that Amazon in my head is a good thing?" Satoshi exclaimed, pointing at Kasumi.

"Who are you calling an Amazon?" Kasumi shouted.

"Enough!" Shigeru demanded, silencing them, "What I'm trying to say is that you two could learn how to work together while under the enemy radar. I know first hand how annoying it can be, but with this new ability, perhaps you could understand each other a little more. You two are always bickering and arguing, but do you know what it's like to be that other person? Can you honestly say that you really know each other? You should probably use this to your advantage and get to know the real person instead of biting each others heads off."

Kasumi and Satoshi lowered their heads shamefully, letting Shigeru's words sink in. It was true what they've been doing. The entire time they spent together was mainly training or arguing. Kasumi wanted to get to know Satoshi better, and Satoshi wanted to figure out what happened in her past and gain her trust. Perhaps Shigeru was right, but there were limits as to what the other person was allowed to know.

Haruka took heed of his words as well. Yuuki had always been around to help her out. Ever since that time when Yuuki saved her from her sisters, she had been trying to find a way to repay the favor. Maybe, just maybe, she would be able to help him out this time, to return the favor.

Now that she thought about it, where was that lunatic of a ninja?

"Where's Yuuki-kun?" Haruka asked.

"Him? He thought that it was his fault that you got knocked out, so he went to get some fresh air. You should probably talk to him." Shigeru suggested, pointing out the front door. Not wasting any time, Haruka took off after the ninja.

Outside, Yuuki sighed dejectedly while sitting on a bench. His Pokémon hovered around him, feeling sorry for him.

"Come on, cheer up," Scyther pleaded, "I'm sure she just fainted, that's all."

"Yes, for once that idiot is right. We know you wouldn't do anything to hurt her." Ninjask reassured, catching the glare from Scyther.

"But still, I don't know how that happened. Did I hit her out of reflex or something? Aw man, what if she hates me now? Why did I have to take that drink without asking? GAH!" Yuuki clutched his head in frustration. Shedinja sighed and hit the back of his head with an attack.

"Quit beating yourself up. It wasn't your fault to begin with. Think about this logically: She punched you, you stumbled back, but then she fell unconscious. If you stumbled back, how on earth could you have hit her?" Shedinja asked rhetorically.

"That's right Yuuki-kun; you didn't do anything to hurt me." Haruka assured. Yuuki nearly fell off the bench in surprise.

"Oh Haruka-chan, I'm glad you're alright. How are you?" He asked, his eyes filled with concern.

"I'm fine, just had a little nap." She smiled sheepishly.

"I'm glad." Yuuki smiled warmly. _'Well, at least she's alright, and that's what counts.'_

Haruka caught ever word and reddened slightly. She took a seat next to him. Being a mage, she was able to conceal her thoughts from psychic enemies, so Yuuki wouldn't be able to hear her thoughts. Her plan was simple: all she had to do was fish through his mind and presto! She had to keep him busy with conversation, otherwise he might catch on.

"So Yuuki-kun…" She started, unsure of how to stall, "Did you decide on what to name your Pokémon?"

Yuuki gave her an odd glance. "Name my Pokémon? I never thought of that…" His Pokémon thought about the question as well.

"That would be so awesome!" Scyther exclaimed.

"No kidding! We could have code names and other cool stuff like that!" Ninjask agreed.

"What cool name could you possibly have? Flaming homo?" The mantis nearly doubled over in laughter.

The flying insect wasn't nearly as pleased. "Shove it you overgrown douche bag!"

Scyther's anger flared. "I am not a douche bag you parasite!"

"Don't call me that you good-for-nothing freak!"

"Good-for-nothing?"

"That's quite enough you two. Don't you two get enough of this useless arguing?" Shedinja sighed. "While it is an interesting question, you don't have to fight about it."

"I suppose you're right." Ninjask and Scyther conceded.

"I just thought of something…did you guys have original names?" Haruka asked out of curiosity.

All of the Pokémon took a minute to think about the question. "…Yeah, we do."

"Awesome! What are they?" Yuuki asked, excited.

"My real name is Vashuna, but everyone calls me Vash." Scyther said.

"I'm Rikabu, but you could call me Riku!" Ninjask told them.

"And I am known as Makyura, no nickname necessary" Shedinja said last.

"Those are some pretty sweet names! I think we should use those instead!" Yuuki suggested.

"I wonder…" Haruka held her chin in thought. After a few moments, she came up with an idea. She took out her two Pokéballs and released the Pokémon within. "Hey you guys." She greeted.

"Hey, Haruka-chan!" They greeted.

"Say, do you guys have real names?" She asked.

Kirlia gave her trainer an odd glance. _'Reading minds are we?'_ She inquired telepathically, smirking. Haruka shot her a stern look. Yuuki raised an eyebrow, confused.

"Hey, did you guys hear something just now?" He inquired. Haruka and Kirlia tensed up.

"No, nothing at all!" Haruka denied quickly. "Anyway, back to the question, what are your real names?"

Kirlia place her hand on her chin in thought. "It's been awhile, but my real name is Fiona."

"And I'm Kiza!" Vulpix joined, "It's been awhile since we used our real names. Until awhile ago, humans would give us crappy pseudonyms since they couldn't understand us, but we lived with it nonetheless."

"Those are such cute names!" Haruka cooed. She twitched noticeably after reading a disturbing thought in Yuuki's mind.

"Are you okay?" Yuuki asked.

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Just got the shivers; it is pretty cool out." She played off. She sighed in relief when she saw that he bought it.

"Yeah, I suppose…," Yuuki took off the top layer of his uniform and handed it to her. "Here, put this on."

"Err…sure." She took the jacket and draped it around her shoulders. _'This…actually feels pretty nice…'_

Yuuki smiled warmly. "I'm glad it does."

Haruka nearly panicked. She wasn't concealing her thoughts carefully enough. Her eyes locked onto his for a moment. His eyes were a dazzling shade of ruby red, glistening from the glare of the sun. She felt lost in his eyes for a moment, like a hypnotizing spell was placed on her.

Yuuki shot her a worried glance. "Why are you looking at me like that? Is there something on my face?"

Catching herself staring, she quickly turned away, blushing hot red. '_Gah, I'm such an idiot! Can't believe I did that!'_ She scolded herself.

"Can't believe you did what?"

"W-wha…oh…nothing! I'm just being weird today." She laughed off.

"That's funny. I thought you were weird everyday." He joked.

_THWAP!_

She punched him in the back of the head, but due to the spell she received a rather large headache. _'Ouch…that hurt…'_

"What hurt? Did I do something?" Yuuki asked, worried.

Catching herself again, she waved defensively. "No, you didn't do anything. I…I just have a slight headache. That's what happens when you're a mage."

"But I thought being a mage meant you didn't get headaches easily?"

Haruka sighed hopelessly. _'Why did he have to be smart today?'_ Luckily for her, she managed to conceal that thought.

Fiona rolled her eyes. _'Great job genius.'_

Yuuki narrowed his eyes. "I could've sworn I just heard something, like Fiona's voice."

Haruka smacked the Kirlia upside the head. _'Quit it, you're blowing my cover!'_ She chastised.

'_I'm doing no such thing. You're the one doing the job perfectly fine yourself!'_ Fiona back talked.

'_This is hard enough as it is. You know he could hear what you're saying since I can hear what you're saying, right?'_

Fiona smiled sheepishly. _'Oops, forgot about that. How done are you fishing through his thoughts?'_

'_I can't get much. It's like there's a door and I can't get through. I got some things though…'_

"Are you two alright? You all are acting weird…" Yuuki asked, _'More like weirder than usual…'_

_THWAP!_

Yuuki clutched the back of his head and hissed in pain. "What was that for?"

Haruka rubbed the back of her head sheepishly, mainly trying to soothe the pain she inflicted. "Sorry, force of habit I guess."

The other five Pokémon watched them with great amusement, sharing a bowl of popcorn. "This is better than watching a sitcom." Vash commented.

"How much you wanna bet that they would make the weirdest couple ever?" Riku inquired.

"You mean weirder than Kasumi-chan and Satoshi-kun?"

"That's a good point…hey, pass the popcorn would ya?"

"Hey Fiona-chan," Vash grinned sneakily, "You know…if our trainers get together, we could be closer than partners…"

Fiona raised an eyebrow. "Right, like that would happen."

"Don't be like that, you know you want me."

"Yeah, dead."

"Nice one." Makyura complimented, giving her a high five.

Vash's jaw dropped. "Just whose side are you on Makie-kun?"

"Not yours for one. And I'm not a "Makie", its Makyura."

The mantis huddled in a dark corner, depression clouding over him. "That was cold…"

Riku glanced at Kiza, the same thought in mind. "Don't even think about it, Riku-kun." Kiza denied.

Riku huddled with Vash in the same corner. "You are so mean…" He cried.

The other three Pokémon gave them strange glances. "They're so alike, it's frightening." Makyura commented.

After getting enough information, Haruka stood up and stretched. "Well, look at the time; I gotta go…check on something. Later!" Picking up her two Pokémon, she dashed out of the area with haste.

When Haruka made it back to the house, she entered her room and locked the door. After she did that, she collapsed on the bed, face first on her pillow. Worried, the Pokémon circled around her. "Haruka-chan, are you alright?" The Vulpix asked. Fiona didn't dare fish through her mind, so she was worried as well.

"I…I found some things…but…I couldn't go much further…" Haruka's voice was muffled by the pillow, but could still be heard.

"Why is that?" Fiona asked.

"I felt too guilty." A sniff emanated from the pillows. "It…it wasn't right to do such a thing. He had always been so kind to me, and then I go on and do this to him. I feel terrible…I'm such an awful friend…" Her two concerned Pokémon tried their best to comfort her.

"You were just trying to help him. It wasn't like you were doing it out of selfishness." Kiza comforted.

"It's true. He always kept things to himself in order to protect others, so it's natural that you would want to see what's wrong. I will admit, it was wrong to pry into private matters, but sometimes it is the only thing that could be done to help." Fiona began to stroke her trainer's hair, "Love makes people do crazy things…"

"…Love?" Haruka echoed.

That one word brought back her thoughts from earlier. Her actions to help Yuuki were entirely selfless. Even though she was dying to know more about him, it was all for the sake of saving him from his misery. Did she love Yuuki or Satoshi? Did she love Yuuki whatsoever? She was used to Yuuki's habits, and enjoyed his company. He was kind, lighthearted, funny, and so much more. Satoshi was also very alike, even though he was a lot saner than Yuuki. Everything was so confusing and frustrating, it was killing her.

_Love makes people do crazy things…_

Fiona's words repeated in her head. Did crazy things include fishing through someone's mind in a desperate attempt to help them? She knew not the answer, but she knew that she would do anything to help Yuuki. The real question was…how far would she go?

That would be the ultimate test of love.

Haruka sat up from her bed and wiped the tears from her watery eyes. All of her Pokémon stared intently at her, seeing if she was alright. "Thanks Fiona-chan. That was good advice. You too Kiza-chan." She embraced both Pokémon lovingly, who returned her hug with the same affection. After a few heartfelt moments, Haruka was ready to face the world, "Alright, let's go and meet the others. They might still be at Satoshi-kun's house."

"Wait a moment…" Fiona requested, "Could you at least tell us what you saw in Yuuki-kun's mind?"

"I didn't see much but…all I know is that something very horrible happened many years ago. He tried to lock it out of his mind, but it is still there. The only thing I saw was…dead bodies. The only real thing I've found out was that Mathisu-sensei knows pretty much everything about Yuuki. But I felt something odd while I was in his mind…" She trailed off, loss for words.

"What did you feel?" Fiona urged her to continue.

"I felt as if….something else was there…something…frightening… and dark. I can't put my finger on it, but I have a bad feeling about it."

"What do you plan to do about it?"

Haruka held her chin in thought. "I think I should make a visit to Mathisu when we have time. For now, I'll just observe Yuuki-kun and see whether anything changes. Let's go and meet up with Kasumi-chan and Satoshi-kun. Speaking of which, I wonder how they are doing…"

15 minutes later, Haruka arrived at the Tajiri house, only to gawk in confusion. Kasumi and Satoshi were glaring down each other, but neither said a single word. Shigeru and Yuuki sat on the couch, watching the scene with a bored expression.

"Um…could you fill me in?" Haruka asked, gesturing the silent argument.

"I'll explain," Shigeru started, "We were discussing how we should train today, considering that some people have something of a handicap. I'm guessing that they must've had a conflicting thought because they've been like this for the past half hour. I shudder to think what they are saying to each other at this point." He grimaced.

"That reminds me, do you know what kind of test we are going to do tomorrow?"

"Let's see, I think we're going to do a battling tournament," Yuuki guessed, "I have no idea what Hayabusa-sensei has planned though. This sucks for Kasumi-chan and Satoshi-kun, because if one of them gets knocked out, the enemy is going to have a two for one kill, and that's bad."

"I've just remembered something!" Shigeru exclaimed, "There's another way to break the spell!"

Everyone turned their attention to him. "There is?"

"Yes, I remember now!" Shigeru grinned, "But somehow, I don't think you guys are going to want to go through with it."

Kasumi gripped the neck of his shirt, holding him up. "If you don't tell us this instant, I'll mop the floor with you, literally!"

Shigeru raised his hands in defense. "Okay, okay, I'll tell you!" With a sigh, Kasumi let go of his Hakama. "Anyway, here's the deal. The transfer began when you guys drank that juice right? And it will stay in your system for the next two days…unless you can somehow transfer it back to the original owner. Magic and organics have a way of working together, depending on the spell used. So all you need to do is send it back and you're cured." The room got eerily quiet. Everyone stared at him as thought he grew a third arm. With a deep sigh, he continued, "In other words, you gotta physically transfer the spell, which will cancel it out. A kiss would work."

"So wait a minute…you mean to tell me…that I have to kiss Haruka-chan in order to be cured?" Kasumi asked incredulously.

The very image of the scene passed through the guys' minds, causing them to grin. Unfortunately for the girls, they were still connected to their partners, so they caught every glimpse of their thoughts. They wiped grin the off on their faces with a punch on the head.

"You all are perverts!" Haruka reprimanded. The girls held their heads in pain and groaned, forgetting that the spell was still in effect.

A cough from Shigeru caught their attention again. "As…intriguing as that would be, that's not what I meant. The person who you are connected to is the one you have to do it with."

It hit Kasumi exactly what he meant. "Don't tell me I have to kiss Satoshi-kun in order to be cured?" Shigeru nodded, grinned ear to ear. "I would rather kiss Haruka-chan!" The guys held their chin in thought.

"…"

"…"

"…"

_POW!_

"Quit thinking dirty thoughts!" Kasumi demanded, sheathing her oversized mallet.

"Ouch! Stop it Kasumi-chan! You're going to knock us out too!" Haruka reminded, rubbing the sore spot on her head.

"Oh right…ow…" Kasumi hissed in agony.

Shigeru eyed them wierdly, but continued on. "Anyway, I never said you had to kiss, I just said that it would work. There is one other way I could think of," He pointed to Satoshi's bed room, "And I would prefer if you did it inside his bed room."

_POW! THWAP!_

Shigeru was laid out on the ground, out cold. Satoshi and Kasumi sheathed their weapons respectively. After looking at the bed room door, they glanced at each other and reddened furiously.

'_I would rather go with the kiss…'_ Both thought as the same time. Catching each others thoughts, they stared at each other, aghast. "Did you just think that? No way! Never! Stop doing that! Doing what? That! You did it again! Stop copying me! GAH!" Kasumi and Satoshi threw their hands in the air in frustration simultaneously. Yuuki and Haruka gawked in amazement.

"You guys should put on an act with that!" Haruka joked.

"The famous mimic duo!" Yuuki chimed, causing them both to laugh.

"THIS IS NO LAUGHING MATTER!" Kasumi and Satoshi screamed. They glanced at each other, startled. "Quit acting like a copy cat! I'm not acting like it, you are! You just did it! There it was again! You're impossible!" Satoshi was acquainted with the floor thanks to her mallet. But ironically, so was Kasumi, with a dazed look in her eyes.

Yuuki stared at Kasumi's unconscious from with a curious expression. "I wonder where she hides that mallet..."

"It's a secret." Haruka winked.

"You don't say…" Yuuki analyzed Haruka from behind, raising an eyebrow. _'I wonder if it's in her—'_

_SLAM!_

The next word earned Yuuki the same fate as the now unconscious Shigeru, Kasumi and Satoshi.

"Ugh, some people are too curious." Haruka left the apartment, slightly able to ignore the sting of her fist.

Yuuki and Haruka's Pokémon, who were still out of their Pokéballs, had very amused looks on their faces.

"That was better than watching Vash-kun making a fool of himself." Riku joked.

Vash shot him a dark glare. "Keep talking and I'll show everyone how funny you look when I clip your wings!"

Riku gulped. "I get your point."

Kiza gave Fiona a curious look. "Say, how do you know so much about love?"

The Kirlia winked at her. "It's a secret."

Makyura, who witnessed all the events, sighed. "Am I the only one who thinks everyone here is insane?"

The next day came by and team Tatsujin was as ready as they could be for their next exercise. It was only a little while before Hayabusa and the other two judges appeared before them. They were rather impressed with yesterday.

"Everyone's results from Monday were better than I expected. So good in fact, that I've decided to give a new challenge to this next examination. This will be a tournament battle system based team-on-team battling. Each team will only be able to use two people to fight, and those two people can only use one Pokémon of their choosing per battle," Hayabusa explained.

_'Wow, is that it? Talk about easy.'_ Satoshi thought.

"But, this is the challenge: the human partners…will be handcuffed."

'_You just had to say something you jinx!'_ Kasumi yelled mentally, shooting him a glare. Satoshi could only laugh uneasily.

The first match will begin in five minutes. It will be Team Tatsujin versus Team Slayer. Choose your partners and prepare to fight!"

Team Tatsujin quickly huddled together, coming up with a plan. "Okay, who should go first?" Satoshi asked.

"I don't think it matters," Yuuki thought aloud, "But I would feel better if you went first. I still need some time to prepare."

Satoshi turned to Kasumi. "I know this will sound crazy, but I would feel better if you were my partner for the time being."

"You're out of your mind!" she hissed.

"Think about it. Haruka works best with Yuuki in team efficiency. If me and Haruka go out there and she gets injured, then we will be at a disadvantage." Satoshi took note of Haruka's disappointment. "I'm not saying you would be in the way Haruka-chan. As a matter of fact, your healing spells would work wonders, but you are the only one who could work in sync with Yuuki and keep up with his speed. Considering that we are going to be handcuffed, we have to choose our partners carefully."

"Okay…" Haruka felt slightly better, but still disappointed.

"Kasumi-chan, we can do it. Plus since our minds are linked, we have some advantage in teamwork. Just be careful out there, since we both will get hurt."

"Oh fine," Kasumi surrendered, "But tell me what Pokémon you're gonna use."

"Hm…I think I'll save Pikachu for later and use Marowak."

"Aw man…you're no fun!" Pikachu complained.

Satoshi winked at him. "Don't worry buddy, I promise that you will be my next partner. After all, I can't use my secret weapon early in the game, right?"

Pikachu smirked knowingly. "Oh yeah, I forgot about that! Alright, I'll wait here. Go get em!" They flashed each other their victory sign for good luck.

"Alright, I'll use my Combusken, since their types don't conflict." Said Kasumi, fingering her belt for the Pokéball.

"Attention," Hayabusa called, "Will the combatants for the first match please come to the earth field immediately."

"That's us! Let's win this one for the team!" Satoshi cheered.

Kasumi gave him a flat look. "You could've said something more original, Tajiri Ashura Satoshi-kun!"

Satoshi smirked at the use of his full name. "Nice one with the mind reading, Yawa Misteria Kasumi-chan." They both grinned as they made their way to the battle field, Pokéball in hand.

"Good luck!" Yuuki, Haruka, and Pikachu waved.

As they made it to the earth field, they could clearly see where it got its name. Brown boulders littered the large sandy field. A white outline covered the borderline of the arena. Tournament officials scampered towards the combatants, placing thick steel handcuffs on their wrist. Kasumi and Satoshi's opponents were a woman and a man, samurai and ninja respectively. They looked very tough and skilled. Hayabusa stood outside the white line, preparing to lay down the rules.

"The rules for this match apply to all other matches. There is a half hour time limit for each match. The white lines on this arena are your border. If you past the line, you have ten seconds to get back in, or you forfeit. Tampering with the locks on the handcuffs and killing your opponent is strictly prohibited. First team to knock out their opponent and their Pokémon wins the bout. Besides those rules, do as you see fit to win. Are you ready?" Both sides nodded, enlarging their Pokéballs.

"First match: Team Tatsujin's Satoshi and Kasumi versus Team slayer's Katze and Tsubame. Ready…? FIGHT!"

* * *

That's chapter six for ya! Stay tuned for the battle next chapter! Don't forget the review!


	7. Double trouble

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon; otherwise the show would be a lot less repetitive.

* * *

"_First match: Team Tatsujin's Satoshi and Kasumi versus Team slayer's Katze and Tsubame. Ready…? FIGHT!"_

Instantly, each trainer released their Pokémon. The blonde Katze and the brunette Tsubame released two similar Pokémon. They resembled Pikachu's pre-evolved form, Pichu, but one had a red plus sign on its cheek while the other had a light blue minus sign. They didn't look very tough, and they were small. The two mice Pokémon held each others hand.

"Crap, they have Plusle and Minun!" Kasumi eyed them cautiously.

"Plusle and Minun?" Satoshi echoed.

"Didn't you pay attention in class? There are Pokémon who work well together, and those two are the best at that. They may be small, but together they are almost undefeatable. Don't let your guard down."

"Right. You hear that Marowak?"

Marowak twirled its bone club and took a battle stance. "I got you. Have a plan?"

"I'm working on it. For now, let's go with offense. Marowak, use bone club!"

Marowak zipped past the rocks after the duo, bone club raised for attack.

"No, wait!" Kasumi called out, but it was too late. As the bone keeper was about to attack, the opposing teammates called out an attack.

"Use agility!" They cried out simultaneously. The two Pokémon practically disappeared, causing Marowak to miss. "Plusle, use helping hand!" "Minun, use head butt!" The red mouse powered up the blue mouse with an electric charge. The blue one dashed towards Marowak while still holding Plusle's hand. Powered up, Minun was able to use Plusle in a team head butt attack.

_BAM!_

The attack slammed into Marowak, sending him into a rock. Since Marowak was a ground type, the electrically charged attack didn't do as much damage.

"What do you think you're doing?" Kasumi yelled, "You can't just go charging in like that! Use some strategy!"

"Well you haven't thought of anything so don't give me lip about strategy!" Satoshi countered.

"Forget you, I'm going in! Combusken, use focus energy!" The chicken closed her eyes and calmed her body, building up focus. As she was doing so, Kasumi charged at the trainers, only to get weighed down by the handcuffs.

"Slow down! Remember, we're cuffed together so we have to move at the same time!"

Kasumi grumbled but knew that he was right. The opponents started charging at them, weapons in hand. "Well here they come! Combusken, attack the trainers with double kick!" As Kasumi guarded, Combusken jumped into the air and came down at the opposing trainers' feet first.

Tsubame saw the attack coming and knew how to counter it. "Minun, use helping hand!"

Katze instantly knew what she wanted him to do. "Plusle, use thunder shock!" As Minun powered Plusle up, Plusle used Minun's help to unleash a devastating electrical attack that shocked Combusken in mid air, stopping the attack. Katze attacked Satoshi with a quick swipe with his ninja blade, but Satoshi managed to deflect it with his samurai sword. That action however yanked Kasumi, throwing her off balance. Tsubame used this to her advantage and kicked Kasumi in the stomach.

_POW!_

Kasumi doubled over in pain, but accidentally yanked Satoshi because of the handcuffs. Katze saw this and swiftly attacked Satoshi with multiple light strokes. Satoshi was hurt, but able to bounce back the sword after a few hits. He did it with one hand, as to not throw off Kasumi again, but his strength was cut in half. Marowak ran towards them quickly, his bone club held at his side.

"Marowak, use bonemerang!" Satoshi called out. Marowak's bone club flew like a boomerang towards the attacking humans.

"Plusle, use helping hand!" Katze called out. Plusle did as told and charged up Minun.

"Minun, use substitute! Have it use head butt on Marowak's bone club and send it back!" The powered up Minun released a carbon copy of itself and Plusle. The copies head butted the attack, causing it to spin towards Marowak. Marowak caught it just before it could hurt him. As soon as he caught it, the real Plusle and Minun were in his face.

"Plusle, use leer!"

"Minun, use tackle!"

The red mouse flashed a frightening gaze at Marowak, lowering his defense. In a quick instant, the blue mouse rammed head first into Marowak's stomach. The leer made the attack do more damage than normal. Marowak lost his breath for a moment, vulnerable to more attacks.

"Combusken, use ember on those Pokémon!" Kasumi called out while blocking Tsubame's attacks. Combusken was about to torch Plusle and Minun with a fire attack when their copies both tackled the chicken, interrupting the attack.

"Tsubame, go low!" Katze called out. Using her long katana, Tsubame leaned in and performed a low cutting slash. Satoshi and Kasumi both jumped to avoid the attack on instinct, but fell for their trap. Katze leapt over the knelt Tsubame and kicked them both, sending them flying. Kasumi and Satoshi fell on the sandy dirt, injured.

'_Curses, these guys really know how to work together!'_ Satoshi grimaced. Kasumi was equally frustrated. Their attacks were timed so well, and they worked together, flowing in one slick motion. Satoshi noted how the Pokémon and their trainers are always holding hands. Whenever a Pokémon would attack them, the Pokémon would charge their partner up and double the efficiency of one attack, but since they shared each others power, they didn't lose much stamina whatsoever. The trainers were equally flawless in their teamwork. It was as though they could read each others thoughts and react instinctively upon them. Kasumi and Satoshi's Pokémon could still put up a fight, but were losing strength fast, and they weren't in any better shape. Their opponents didn't even get a scratch on them yet.

They were in trouble.

It was then that Satoshi caught the pattern in their attacks. They would use one attack at a time, but one would link to another. If they were going to stand a chance, they were going to have to fight fire with fire. Kasumi heard his thoughts and figured it out also. A plan in mind, they mirrored each others stance and held each other's hand, standing back to back to each other. Katze and Tsubame were confused with their mimicking strategy, but weren't about to let them pull any tricks.

"Plusle, helping hand!" Katze called out. Plusle charged up Minun, increasing her strength even more. Katze whispered something to Tsubame, who immediately liked the idea.

"Minun, use thunder shock and aim it at us!" Tsubame commanded. The blue mouse was baffled, but obedient as the powerful voltage shockwave was sent at them. Katze and Tsubame extended their weapons and had it touch each others'. The electric attack hit their weapons, causing the metal to be empowered with thunder. They grinned as they kept the weapons connected and faced Satoshi and Kasumi.

"Crescent thunder shock!" They swiped their weapons horizontally and away from each other. A crescent yellow shockwave emanated from the middle of their swords and zipped after Satoshi and Kasumi. They were astounded by team Slayer's cleverness, but weren't about to give up. They had to react quickly however; otherwise the attack would mean their defeat. Satoshi noticed Marowak and Combusken were close by and had a chance to make an attack. He noticed the sandy ground in front of him and got a brilliant idea.

"Marowak, use bonemerang! Aim for the ground in front of us!" Satoshi yelled out.

_'I hope you know what you are doing…' _Marowak was worried but complied with the request as it flung its bone attack at the sand.

Satoshi hoped that Kasumi would know what to do. He thought of the plan on instinct, so Kasumi couldn't have heard it. He could only hope…

Kasumi quickly called out an attack. "Combusken, use ember and aim at the sand in front of us!" Satoshi smirked when she said that. She caught on.

As the bone club slammed into the ground, the sand exploded into the air. While in mid air, the flame attack swept through the sand, heating it up intensely. Katze and Tsubame grinned when the attack was about to strike them, only to gasp in horror.

The attack was reflected!

It shot back and struck team Slayer head on, injuring them badly. Their bodies were charred from the high voltage and slightly paralyzed. When they glanced back at team Tatsujin, their jaws dropped in surprise. There was a mirror wall erected from the ground! The secondary problem with the mirror was that it was a bright and sunny day, and the sun just happened to be in the front side of the mirror. They had to shield their eyes from the blinding light. Using this to their advantage, Satoshi and Kasumi leapt over the mirror wall and dashed at their opponents.

At the same time, Katze and Tsubame jumped back and deflected some of their attacks. Satoshi took the sword in this free hand and made a horizontal slash. It missed, but in mid slash, Kasumi rolled over his back and kicked Katze in the face. Tsubame was about to slash her when Satoshi yanked Kasumi back with the handcuff, saving her just in time. Satoshi held onto the handcuff chain and swung Kasumi, knocking the opponents back a few feet. Tsubame made a downward slice, but Kasumi and Satoshi used their chain to block and tie up the blade, temporarily immobilize her.

_POW!_

They kicked the enemy teammates at the same time, knocking the wind out of them. They collapsed on the ground, breathing heavily. Tsubame and Katze glanced over to see their Pokémon already knocked out, Marowak and Combusken standing over them victoriously. Defeated, Katze and Tsubame stood up weakly.

"Well, you got us. You win; nice teamwork!" Katze complimented, extending his hand.

Satoshi accepted the hand shake. "You guys nearly had us, but it was your example of teamwork that helped us out in the end."

Hayabusa raised his hand, a red flag in it. "The first match is over! The winner is team Tatsujin's Satoshi and Kasumi!" He announced. The crowd, who had watched the battle intently, applauded both teams on such great battling skill. The officials ran and unlocked the handcuffs, setting them free. Kasumi and Satoshi leapt in the air with glee, embracing each other out of sheer happiness of being free. Realizing what they were doing, they soon shot away from each other, blushing.

'_We got through the first match. You were great out there. I knew it would be a good idea to have you as my partner.'_ Satoshi smiled warmly.

Kasumi looked away, turning slightly pink in the cheeks. _'Well, you weren't that bad either,'_ She admitted _'I suppose I could say the same about you.'_

Satoshi feigned surprise. _'What is this? You're giving me a compliment? I guess nothing really is impossible.'_

'_Yeah, yeah, just don't get used to it.'_ It was around that time that Marowak and Combusken walked over to them. "You guys were great!"

"Yeah. At first I thought you two lost your minds, but that mirror wall idea was brilliant," Marowak complimented. "Especially since it was Sato-kun who came up with the idea."

"Hey!" Satoshi glared. A few minutes later, Haruka and Yuuki came running after them.

"You guys rocked out there!" Yuuki cheered, "At first, you guys sucked, but then you just blew them away! I would've never thought of doing something like that!"

"That's because you never think, period." Haruka joked. Yuuki growled playfully in response.

"So anyway, let's go and rest up. Hayabusa-sensei is going to finish up the rounds, so we can walk around for a bit." They was about to leave when Yuuki gave Kasumi and Satoshi an odd glance. "Say…the battle's over…so why are you two still holding hands?"

"What?" They snatched their hands away as if they had touched fire, red from embarrassment.

"Anyway…we still got some time to kill before we're up next, let's see how team Tenshi is doing." Satoshi led the way. They arrived a few minutes later at the water field, just missing team Tenshi's stunning victory. As the name implied, the field was mainly water, except for a few patches of land. The team duo Hiroshi and Furuura noticed Satoshi and others and called out to them

"Hey you guys," Hiroshi said, "How did your match go?"

Satoshi gave him the thumbs up. "Great! We won!"

"Sweet!" Hiroshi gave him the high five. "We have some time to rest for the time being, so we're going to walk around for a bit, wanna join us?"

Satoshi shrugged. "Sure, why not?" With that, team Tenshi and team Tatsujin joined up and went to see the other battles. As they came across another arena, they noticed a fierce battle between team Isuka and team Zeji. The two teams could recognize Kenta and Marina on the opposite teams, but not their partners. A blue haired man was handcuffed to Kenta while a dark red haired woman was cuffed to Marina. The battle was reaching its climax.

"Zangoose, use quick attack!" The blue haired man called out. The red and white cat ferret Pokémon ran at the opposing Pokémon with its claws prepped for attack. Its opponent was a lone black snake with long, sharp fangs and just as sharp tail.

"Seviper, dodge it then use poison tail!" The red haired woman commanded. Seviper slithered past the Zangoose's claw and slashed it with its tail, injuring it. The Zangoose managed to slash it as it countered the attack. The string of attacks caused both Pokémon to faint shortly after, leaving the trainers by themselves. The respective trainers recalled their fainted Pokémon while they closed the distance between them and commenced battling. The teamwork they possessed was incredible as they linked each others attacks one by one.

"Kojiro-kun, go low!" Kenta said. Kojiro made a powerful low sweep kick, making the girls jump. Kenta prepared a horizontal strike with his sword. In mid air, Marina deflected the attack and called out an action to her partner.

"Musashi-chan, follow up with a jump kick!" Both girls jump kicked the boys, pushing them back a few feet. Kenta and Kojiro quickly recovered and dashed back at them.

"Kenta-kun, let's do our coup de grace!" Kojiro said. Kenta nodded in agreement and prepared himself. Kojiro gripped the chain and spun Kenta, spinning faster and faster. When their speed peaked, he flung Kenta at the girls. The chain lifted Kojiro as they both flew at their opponents with blinding speed. Kenta held his sword for the final attack as Kojiro tightened his fist. Marina sheathed her sword and narrowed her eyes, focusing all her remaining strength in the attack. Musashi took on a battle stance and clenched her fist.

_SLASH!_

Kenta and Kojiro landed on the other side as both teams stood stock still. The crowd was silent, the only sound being the ominous wind that passed by. A few dramatic moments later, both teams fainted simultaneously. A judge raised both flags.

"A double knock out!" He called. The crowd went wild, cheering and applauding loudly. Officials passed by Satoshi and the others as they went to take off their handcuffs and revive them. When they were revived, Marina and Kenta shook each others hands, but their teammates were long gone, not wanting to do any such thing. Satoshi and Hiroshi brought their team over and greeted them.

"Hey, that was some great battling!" Satoshi complimented.

"Thanks. Um…who are you guys?" Kenta asked.

"Don't you remember me? I'm the guy you saw on Monday." Yuuki reminded.

"And I know you Marina-san." Haruka pointed out.

It took the two a minute to recognize them. "…It's you guys!" They exclaimed.

"You guys must be team Tenshi and team Tatsujin. You guys are awesome!" Marina praised.

Takeshi wasted no time in talking to Marina. "And you, my pretty, are quite beautiful!" He grinned sneakily. Imite tugged on his ear, dragging him away.

"And you are getting on my nerves!"

Hiroshi noticed the looks Takeshi was getting and sighed. "…Don't ask."

"Anyway," Haruka continued, "I noticed that those guys on your team seem like enemies. What's that about?"

Marina and Kenta scratched their heads. Kenta answered first. "Well…it kinda goes quite a ways back. You see, Kojiro-kun and Kosaburo-kun's parents are from a wealthy organization, and Marina's teammates Musashi-san and Yamato-san's parents are from a competing company. The two companies had been rivals for years, and their parents instilled the idea that anyone that was from the other company is evil, and it turned out to be like this."

"What about you and Marina-san? Aren't you two supposed to be enemies as well?" Kasumi asked.

"Well…yes and no." Marina answered. "We were friends before we were placed on their teams, and we aren't about to let a small farce like this get in the way of our friendship, right?"

"Right." Kenta nodded. It wasn't long before two more people showed up. Yuuki and Haruka recognized them as the ninjas from their team.

"Hey, what's up guys!" The raven haired ninja greeted. The teal haired one just waved silently.

"Hi Kenji-un!" Kenta greeted. He noticed the teal haired teen giving him a smirk of recognition. "Sup Shuu-kun."

"These guys are our friends and know of our friendship. They help us keep things under wraps." Marina explained, "If the rivals knew of our friendship, who knows what they would do."

Kasumi turned to Satoshi. '_Isn't that the most ghetto version of Romeo and Juliet you've ever heard?'_ She thought. Satoshi could only nod.

"Anyway, me and Kenji-kun wanted to let you guys know that your teammates are looking for you. If you don't wanna get caught, you better split. We're out of the ranking since we both lost on a draw, so we're pretty much done for the day," Shuu shrugged. "Well I'm going, see ya later."

"Hang on, I'm coming!" Marina called, rushing after him. "See ya later Kenta-kun and Kenji-kun!" They waved to each other as Marina and Shuu left. Kenta stretched a bit, still feeling sore.

"Well, I should be going too. Take it easy you guys!" And with that, Kenta and Kenji left the two teams and back to their own. Soon after, Hayabusa made an announcement about the next round of matches. They were the following parings:

Match 1: team Tatsujin versus team Rocket

Match 2: team Tenshi versus team Striker

"Looks like our next match is up. Good luck." Satoshi waved, going to their next destination. When they arrived, they found that next field was the same water field that Hiroshi's team fought on. Satoshi groaned when he realized who they were fighting. "Aw man! I can't believe we have to fight them…again!"

"If we look on the bright side, we've beaten them before, and we can do it again!" Haruka was pumped up for battle, flames of determination burning in her eyes. Her teammates back up slightly.

"Well, seems like someone is in the spirit of things," Kasumi mused, "I'm guessing that it's you and Yuuki-kun who are up next, right?"

"Yep!" They nodded.

"Do you two know what Pokémon you are going to use?" Satoshi asked. They both went into deep contemplation for a minute, pondering their choices.

"I think I'll go with Vash-kun in this one. He always pulled through for me in these kinds of fields." Yuuki decided.

"And I think I'll go with Fiona-chan, since Kiza-chan is vulnerable in this environment." Haruka concluded. Satoshi and Kasumi gave them confused glances. "Oh yeah, you guys don't know. Pokémon actually have real names."

"Really?" Satoshi beamed. Pikachu nodded.

"That's right. Pikachu is a classification, not a real name for us."

"What's your real name then?"

"Ah…um…I've forgotten it, but everyone calls me Raigeki." He answered.

"Raigeki-kun…very nice. I like it!" Satoshi smiled widely. He released Marowak, who gave him a curious glance. "Hey Marowak, what's your real name?"

The Marowak held his chin. "It's been so long since I've used it. I'm Zohl."

"I wonder…" Kasumi took out her Pokéballs and released Combusken and Croconaw. "Hey you guys, could you tell me your real names?"

"Sure." They nodded.

"I'm Baiken, and Croconaw here is Mikado-chan." The Combusken answered.

"Looks like the cat is out of the bag." Mikado joked.

"I didn't know you guys had such names. They're so cute!" Kasumi cooed.

"I thought so too!" Haruka joined.

"Sorry to interrupt the cooing fest, but our next match is about to start. Can we go on before we are disqualified?" Yuuki reminded, impatience in his voice.

"Right," Haruka took out her Pokéball. "Ready when you are!"

Yuuki nodded. "Wish us luck you guys!"

"We will!" Satoshi said. "Go get them!" Yuuki and Haruka left to go to the water field. When they arrived, they saw the other members of team Rocket, the mage and fighter. After getting cuffed together they stepped into the ring. Before stepping on the water, Haruka stopped Yuuki.

"How do you walk on water again?"

"It's easy. All you need to do is control the flow of chakra within your body and send the flow to the soles of your feet. It will reflect the buoyancy of the water and allow you to stay afloat. Remember when we did the same thing in class awhile ago? Just do it here." Yuuki stepped on the water first. His feet landed on the water, but didn't sink. Haruka took a deep breath and did what he told her. Being a magician was helpful, considering that it taught her how to control her energy. An aura that is invisible to those who can't detect magical energy covered her feet. Hesitantly, she stepped out into the water. When her feet landed, she exhaled in relief. She didn't sink. They continued on until they had made it to a small piece of land.

Haruka sized up their competition. The fighter was well built and huge, at least 6 feet tall. He had spiky black hair and brown eyes that would be able to scare most people away. The mage didn't look as tough, but had a powerful mystic aura surround him, meaning that he had a lot of power. His smooth, elegant blue hair swayed in the wind. Piercing yellow eyes stared back at her, calm but serious. Was it her, or did they seem more serious than the last time she fought them? It didn't matter, because the result was going to be the same. Hayabusa once again approached the border of the ring.

"Today's semi final match: team Tatsujin's Yuuki and Haruka versus team Rocket's Anji and Ryuga. Ready…? FIGHT!"

"Go, Fiona-chan!" "Let's roll Vash-kun!" Both Yuuki and Haruka called out, tossing their Pokéballs on a patch of dirt. The Kirlia and Scyther emerged from the ball, ready to fight.

"Pokéball, GO!" Anji and Ryuga called also. The fighter, Anji, released a Pokémon in the water, whose identify couldn't be confirmed yet. Ryuga released a green chameleon Pokémon with a curled up tail. He didn't waste time and called out to his Pokémon.

"Kecleon, use your special ability! Cloak!" The Kecleon slowly disappeared, turning invisible.

Yuuki smirked. "Nice one, but the problem is that your Pokémon can't run on water, otherwise it will reveal itself. But enough talk, Vash-kun, fly over there and use slash! Attack the trainers!"

"You got it! HYAA!" The mantis levitated off the ground and flew at them with amazing speed. Half way there, a flamethrower attack hit him out of nowhere! The highly effective damage injured him badly. "GAH!" He flew away just in time from getting too much damage. "What was that?"

"It would seem that the Kecleon was waiting for you to do that," Fiona guessed, "We should try to defeat that Kecleon first."

"Yeah, good point…" Vash agreed.

"Fiona-chan, use recover on Vash!" Haruka commanded. Vash flew over to Fiona to recover. Haruka eyed the water suspiciously. _'Didn't Anji release a Pokémon? I wonder where it…uh oh…'_ Vash managed to regain some health before a stream of water knocked him down.

"Where did that come from?" Vash said, looking for the attacker. His keen eye caught sight of a fin before it disappeared again. "There! It's in the water!" He was about to chase after it when a flamethrower attack barely missed him. "Crap, that Kecleon is still hiding!"

"Sharpedo, come up and use crunch!" Aniji called out. Almost instantly, a blue shark leapt out of the water and attempted to bite the mantis, who barely dodged the surprise attack.

"Haruka-chan, use a thunder spell on the water!" Yuuki requested.

Haruka channeled some of her mystic power to fill her wand with the lightning element. She was about to release it when something rammed into her stomach, canceling the attack. Yuuki felt the harsh blow also, but recovered quickly and punched the invisible attacker. The Kecleon fell into the water with a splash.

"Haruka-chan, are you alright?" Yuuki asked.

Haruka coughed a little. "Yeah, the attack just surprised me. We need a strategy to take out that stealth attacker."

Yuuki glanced left and right cautiously, his Scyther doing the same. The Kecleon couldn't breathe under water like the Sharpedo could, so it was bound to show up sooner or later. It was then that both saw bubbles coming from the water.

"Haruka-chan, now!" Yuuki yelled, pointing to that particular spot. Haruka aimed her wand at the spot and unleash a thunder attack. Right before the attack could strike the Sharpedo jumped out of the water and opened its mouth, preparing a water gun attack.

"Fiona-chan, light screen!" She called out quickly. An invisible barrier was lifted in front of her, negating the water gun blast.

"Kecleon, use fury swipes!" Ryuga commanded. Haruka started feeling light, but painful scratches on her body, but the attacker was no where to be found!

"Vash-kun, hurry and use slash! Be careful not to hurt Haruka-chan!" Yuuki said. Vash flew over to Haruka and made a horizontal slash attack that was inches from hitting Haruka. His blade struck the Kecleon and knocked it into the water again. While they were occupied, Anji and Ryuga were channeling their energy. When the charge was completed, Anji was the first to strike. Punching out his palms, he threw invisible force punches at the opposing duo.

While fending off the Pokémon, Yuuki's ninja senses blared, danger nearby. His eyes caught sight of a faint blur heading their way. "LOOK OUT!" He pushed Haruka out of the way, barely dodging it. They ran across the water to different patches of land, avoiding Anji's attacks.

"How done are you charging?" Anji asked, still sending his chi attacks at the fleeting duo.

"Almost….got it!" Ryuga grinned maliciously. "Let's see them get out of this one! Let's go!" The both of them ran across the water after them.

Yuuki and Haruka had been doing nothing but dodging Kecleon and Sharpedo's attacks for the past minute. Yuuki starting seeing something odd about the Kecleon. No matter how much he damaged it, it always seemed to come back unharmed, and from out of nowhere too! The Sharpedo was equally annoying, coming out the water on and off. Vash and Fiona were able to assist them, but the situation was getting out of hand quick.

'_Wait a minute…'_ Yuuki narrowed his eyes at the Kecleon. If Vash had been hitting him and he never got injured…then that means… "I got it! Vash-kun, stand in the middle of the water and use sword dance! Spin like a tornado!"

"Right!" The Scyther ran across the water until he was in the middle of the large arena. He closed his eyes and extended his scythes. In a graceful motion, he started to spin in a circle faster and faster until the water he stood on turned into a typhoon. The mini typhoon got higher and higher.

"Now stop!" Yuuki commanded. In that instant, Vash stopped spinning, causing the cyclone to transform into a tsunami, enveloping the area in water for a short period. Yuuki took that time to find what he was looking for. There! "Vash-kun, go over there and use your slash attack! Hurry!" He pointed. Vash saw what he was pointing to and grinned.

"Gotcha you little pest!" Vash quickly zipped across the water and slashed the Kecleon directly. The chameleon fell back, down for the count. Haruka was surprised.

"How did you know?"

"It was easy once you saw through the illusion. While the Kecleon was invisible, it just kept using substitute and made its copies attack us. The Sharpedo was not only a diversion, but a carrier so that the invisible Kecleons would remain hidden as they attacked us. The problem with substitute was that it drains your health after each use, weakening it." Yuuki explained.

"Brilliant deduction, but its too late!" Ryuga was almost in front of him, his palm raised. Fiona instantly recognized what he was about to do and decided to intervene.

"Oh no you don't!" Fiona used her psychic powers to form a barrier over them, bouncing Ryuga and Anji back. Ryuga glared at her menacingly, his eyes glowing bright red.

"Blast you! You're next!" Ryuga led Anji towards her. She tried to lift another barrier, but Anji broke through it in one attack. She didn't have a chance to use her psychic power against him. His hand flash opened in front of her. "Anubis Curse!" A dark light flash in his palm. Fiona's eyes widened. It was one of the hardest spells to perform, but the person inflicted would be in a considerable amount of pain and misery for a long period of time. It even had the potential to kill someone if they were weak enough to succumb to it. When the attack was unleashed, Vash appeared out of nowhere, defending her from the blast with his body.

"VASH-KUN!" She cried out. The force of the blast knocked the Scyther in the water. Without any Hesitation, Fiona dove in after him.

"Fiona-chan!" Haruka yelled. She was about to go after her when Yuuki pulled her back.

"You can't go in! You won't survive as long as they can!" Yuuki clamed when he saw her worried expression. "Look, don't worry. I'm sure Fiona-chan's got it covered. Let's just take care of these guys first…" He said a little softer. She settled down, but was still worried.

"Okay…"

Anji raised his eyebrow at Ryuga. "What was that about, Ryu-kun? We're supposed to paralyze them, not curse them to death!"

Ryuga stared at his hands, shocked and confused. "I…I don't know. Saito taught me how to use that attack…but I couldn't control myself when I cast it…what happened?"

"Hey!" Haruka interrupted, getting their attention. "What's the big idea using such an attack? You're not suppose to kill, remember?" She snapped.

"A minor miscalculation in spell usage, but that's beside the point! Get ready to lose! Aqua Lance!" The spell caster created spears out of water and tossed it at Haruka.

"Fire Blade!" A large flaming sword appeared around her and slashed at the watery lance, canceling each other out and creating steam.

"Sharpedo, use head butt!" Anji commanded. The shark leapt out of the water and lunged at Haruka. Yuuki managed to kick the oversized shark, but because of its rough skin special ability, Yuuki got hurt as well. The destiny bond spell was still in place and Haruka felt his pain.

"Haruka-chan…we have to attack them head on…if we don't do something quick, we'll lose…" Yuuki groaned in pain. The constant barrage of attacks were wearing them both out, and with them being linked, it doubled their problems. Anji and Ryuga hadn't been injured in the slightest. The Team Tatsujin duo were not only out of Pokémon, but injured as well, and Anji's Sharpedo was still out there.

Things were looking grim.

Underwater, Vash's mind was drifting. The pain in his mind and body was overwhelming. The mental pain was ten times worse than a high fever, and the physical pain was five times worse than being burned alive. His eyes were shut, unsuccessfully blocking out the agony.

_'Man…this sucks,'_ He thought grimly, _'Heh, it looks like this is it for me. I'm running out of air, and this pain is too much to bear…maybe I'll just go to sleep for a little while…' _His eyes was about to close when he saw something coming. The light from the sun gave the mysterious creature a silhouette, hiding its identity. As it came closer, it slowly started to reveal itself. _'Wait…Fiona-chan? What is she doing here? It's too late for me…leave me…'_ He was about to sink further when Fiona's hand caught his scythe.

_'I'm not going to leave you behind!' _She told him telepathically.

_'You have to…you won't be able to breathe for long…save yourself…'_

_'NO!'_ Her tears started to blend with the water as she struggled to save him. Her grip tightened._ 'I'll…I'll never leave your side! You've got to survive!'_

Vash was slowly losing consciousness, but managed to send her one last thought. _'I'm glad…I got to meet such a wonderful friend…farewell…Fiona…' _He then fell into a state of unconsciousness.

_'VASH!' _She cried out. In a burst of emotion, she pulled him into a tight embrace. It was then that her body was engulfed in a bright light and slowly started to change shape…

Above the water, an all out war was raged. Yuuki and Haruka managed to defeat the Sharpedo, but Anji and Ryuga was still at close to full strength. The pain that Yuuki and Haruka shared was starting to add up, wearing them down quickly. There was little hope left for them…

"Man, it looks like we gave it our best shot…" Haruka groaned, clutching her side in pain.

"Come on…don't say that. We can still do it. We just need to believe…that there's a miracle somewhere." Yuuki joked.

"Heh, you come up with jokes at the oddest times, you know that?" She couldn't help but smirk.

Yuuki smiled weakly. "What can I say? I'm just that kind of guy."

"Well you two, it's been fun, but its time to say goodbye to the tournament!" Ryuga raised his hand and was about to attack when a bright light emanated from the water. "What on Gaetia is that?" His question was answered when two figures emerged from the water, inside a bubble barrier. Everyone gawked at the awesome sight in amazement. The Kirlia had transformed into a dazzling, much more elegant version of herself. A long white dress flowed gracefully and her green hair was neat and smooth.

Haruka and Yuuki's jaw dropped in shock and surprise. "Whoa…" Yuuki breathed. "Fiona-chan evolved into a Gardevior!"

"Fiona-chan! Vash-kun! You two are alright!" Haruka cheered. Fiona's attention however, was directed to the ones who caused Vash's turmoil. Sheer hatred doesn't scratch the surface of how she felt about those two. They were frightened by her murderous glare, but felt they could stand something of a chance.

"Don't think you can beat us just because you had evolved! Eat this!" Ryuga tossed an ice spear at her, only to have it shatter to pieces. "What? No way!"

"Let me try!" Anji shot a few chi shots from his hand, but they dissipated before they could get close to her. "Damn it, she's too strong!"

"This is what you get for hurting my friends!" She growled menacingly. As she lifted one of her hands, team Rocket was immobilized by an unknown force, unable to move an inch. With the flick of her wrist, she tossed them along the water into a mass of land.

_SLAM!_

"ARG!" Anji and Ryuga were slammed into a heap of dirt and rock. She lifted them up with her power and slammed them of the ground repeatedly. After a few slams, small balls of light started to gather in her hand. When her charging was complete, she unleashed a massive hyper beam blast at them. The land that they stood on dissolved as the beam struck them. The attack was so powerful that steam from the water enveloped the battle field. When some of the smoke disappeared, Anji and Ryuga were found unconscious.

Wasting no time, Hayabusa announced the victor. "And the winners of the semi final match: team Tatsujin's Yuuki and Haruka!" The crowd applauded for a job well done. The Gardevior floated next to Haruka and Yuuki as she gently dropped the unconscious mantis on the ground.

"Fiona-chan, you're alright!" Haruka ran and hugged her new Gardevior tightly, much to Yuuki's slight discomfort because of the chain. After the embrace, it was Yuuki's turn to go over to the fallen Vash.

"Hey Vash-kun, are you awake?" Vash stirred, but didn't wake up.

"He is unconscious at the moment. The curse attack really did a number on him. He should be fine once we take him to the healing bay." Fiona explained. After the cuffs were released, Vash was recalled in his Pokéball as they both went to the center, Kasumi and Satoshi followed them soon after.

Back with Anji and Ryuga, Hayabusa walked over to them and knelt down. "Ryu-kun, where did you learn such an attack?"

Ryuga regained some consciousness and stared at the sensei. "It was Saito-sensei. All he told me was that doing the chant would bring us victory. I didn't think it would do that though…" Ryuga fainted. The medical team picked up the two boys and took them to the medical center.

Hayabusa held his chin in thought. _'Saito…'_

"Is something the matter Hayabusa-kun?" Another voice spoke.

"Ah, Mathisu-kun. Did you notice that too?"

Mathisu nodded. "Yeah, looks like he's at it again. But he's never gone as low as to use his personal students to pull a stunt like that. What do you think of this?"

"…Think he might pull another one like last time?"

"I hope not…he nearly destroy the entire school back then."

Hayabusa glanced at him. "Not to change the subject or anything, but when the arsonist were interrogated, they said that they only painted the samurai dojo, not destroyed it. The psychics claim that they were telling the truth. Tell me…did _he_ have something to do with it?"

"Yes…that boy tried to kill me again. He was trying harder than usual."

"You know…this is rather risky of you. If you're not careful, he could take you down for good. Allow me to help you like we did in the old days…Lt. Surge."

Mathisu chuckled. "I haven't gone by that name in years."

"So tell me, how's your wife doing?"

Mathisu gave him an odd glance. "You really have a way of staying on topic. But yes, my wife is doing fine. She senses a disturbance in the near future. She's been transferring those images to our favorite samurai."

"…You know you have to tell him about that sooner or later. He probably thinks it's just an annoying dream. I wouldn't blame him though."

"Yes, I know…I'll tell him what he needs to know after the competition. Speaking of which, team Tatsujin hasn't been doing too bad. I saw their matches earlier."

Hayabusa nodded. "Yes, they're highly resourceful. They are so much like them."

"You mean the elementals of legend?"

"Yeah. Well I better get going, the other match is probably done by now. Later lieutenant." Hayabusa walked off to see the other semi final match. Mathisu left also, pondering how he was going to tell Satoshi the news.

In the medical room, Vash was taken inside the operation room for extraction of the curse and healing. Soon enough, team Tenshi followed and saw them.

"What happened?" Hiroshi asked.

"A curse was placed on him. A particularly strong one at that." Haruka answered solemnly.

"Man…" Takeshi grimaced. "Curses shouldn't be this bad right? Normally, the effects aren't that powerful."

"But the one that guy used was something else. It completely devastated him."

"I'm sorry to hear that…"

"But anyway, how did your match go Hiroshi-kun?" Satoshi asked, changing the subject.

"We won, and from what I've heard, you won too. That means we go against each other in the finals!"

"Sounds good. We got about an hour to prepare so we're just going to hang out here for a short bit and recover. Wanna join?"

"Thanks, but I'm just going to get ready for the finals. I'll see you later." Hiroshi and his team bid farewell as they left them inside the waiting room. Fiona was still out of her Pokéball and gazed forlornly at the red sign that indicated that the extraction of the curse was in progress.

'_Poor Fiona-chan…'_ Haruka thought despairingly. She didn't catch Yuuki's scrutinizing glare. He stood up and walked through the automatic doors. Curious, Haruka followed him.

Haruka followed Yuuki, but kept her distance. It lasted over ten minutes until he stopped dead in his tracks. They were in a secluded spot with plenty of trees.

"When…" He spoke suddenly, his tone darker than normal, "When were you going to tell me that you were probing my thoughts?" Haruka gasped, but couldn't say anything. "I'm guessing that you never were going to tell me…were you?"

"I was…but…"

"No buts!" He spat sharply, "It's true that we are friends, and it is true that we tell each other things, but going through my head without my permission was wrong. People have secrets Haruka, secrets that cannot be known by anyone, just like the secret of your hidden stash of belongings inside your bed, or the very pages of your diary."

"I've never told you that…" That's when her eyes widened.

"Correct. You were too busy going into my head that you didn't even realize that I was going through yours. You thought that I was so dumb and naïve that I wouldn't notice someone prying in my head. I managed to play it off with confusion, distracting you. You forget, we take the universal class, so I gain the skills of a ninja and also that of a mage. I purposely leaked thoughts into your mind in order to throw you off. When I tasted the orange juice, I could feel the mystic spell go inside me, but I couldn't tell at first. It wasn't until you reacted to my thoughts that I figured it out."

Haruka stared at him in shock. He was smarter than she took him for. But now she felt a hundred times worse than earlier. She dropped on her knees and stared at the ground in shame.

"I'm sorry…"

Yuuki wasn't convinced. "…Are you truly sorry, or are you just saying that to get me on my good side?"

"I'm truly sorry, for everything. You were always such a good friend to me, but my selfishness got the best of me…and…I couldn't help it. I wasn't even trying to probe you at first, but the opportunity came up and…I took it. I realized too late that what I did was wrong…"

"…"

"I know there is no real way to gain your forgiveness, but I am willing to repent. So…go on."

"Go on…what?"

"Go ahead and read my mind."

He raised an eyebrow. He wasn't expecting that. "Read your mind? But wouldn't that…"

"It doesn't matter. I went into your mind selfishly and without permission, so it's only fair that you get to see what's in my mind. So go on…" She closed her eyes and lowered her defenses, allowing him entry to her thoughts.

He was tempted to do such, but he had a better idea. He turned around and walked up to her. As he knelt in front of her, he placed one of his hands on her shoulder, and the other gently held her chin, tilting it up. When he gazed intently into her teary sapphire orbs, his eyes and expression softened.

"Actually Haruka, you're not as selfish as you would like to believe."

She averted her gaze. "Yes I am…"

"Look at me…" His voice was stern, but soft. He guided her chin in his direction. "Listen, I was able to tell what thought you were scanning and how far you were going. It surprised me when you stopped suddenly and left. It was then that I discovered that you went inside your room and closed the door. Even with the door closed I could still hear you and your thoughts…" He started to stroke her cheek with his thumb. "I was pleasantly surprised with what I heard. I never thought that anyone would cry for me like you did. You weren't scanning my mind for yourself back there. You were doing it…for me. No matter how you look at it, it doesn't make you selfish…" He started to lean in slowly, closing the distance. "It just proves what you really are…an angel…" In that moment, their lips met.

But it was her who made the advance.

* * *

How did you guys like it? A secret is revealed on the next chapter! Review and stay tuned!


	8. Tribulations

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon…yet…

Warning: Dark themes ahead.

* * *

"I wonder where Yuuki-kun and Haruka-chan are…" Satoshi pondered. He, Kasumi and Fiona sat patiently in their seats, waiting for any word on Vash's condition.

"I'm not sure. It's been a half hour ever since they left. Maybe this whole situation with Vash-kun bothered them." Kasumi guessed. She glanced at the sleeping Gardevior and smiled. Fiona must've worried herself to sleep. It was understandable; being that Vash was struck by such a vicious attack. That one fact troubled her. That was not an attack that the instructors here taught, especially since it was one of the forbidden techniques. How was it that they learned such an attack?

It wasn't long before the red light above the door went off. Fiona awoke to the sound of the doctor's footsteps. The man was dressed in a long white lab coat and wore glasses. Immediately, Fiona came up to the doctor and attacked him with a barrage of questions. Unfortunately, he didn't receive the Pokésync, so all of her babbling only led to more confusion.

"Down girl!" The doctor said, trying to calm her down.

Kasumi gently pushed Fiona aside. "Sorry about that, she's just worried about her friend. How is he?"

"He'll be perfectly fine. It took awhile, but the curse was lifted. You all can see him now if you want. Just go down the hall and make a left at the second door."

"Thank you." Kasumi bowed in respect before leading Satoshi and Fiona to Vash. When they arrived, they saw the Scyther was bandaged up, but fine. He looked up at them and smirked.

"Hey guys." He greeted.

"Hey yourself." Satoshi replied. They came inside and stood around Vash. "How do you feel?"

"I feel fine. That attack was a pain in the blade though." Vash noted Fiona's silence. "Hey Fiona-chan, thanks for saving me back there. I would've been six feet under if it wasn't for you. Well…20 feet under to be exact." He added jokingly.

"It's no problem..." Fiona replied shyly. They were suddenly quiet, unsure of what to say.

Kasumi nudged Satoshi. _'Let's leave these two alone.'_

He tilted his head in confusion. _'Why?'_

With a sigh, Kasumi pushed him out of the room. _'You're too dense to understand.'_ She closed the door behind them, leaving them be.

As they made it back to the waiting room, they saw Haruka and Yuuki come through the door, but something was different. Haruka had a guilty expression on her face while Yuuki seemed disappointed, though he didn't make it obvious.

"Haruka-chan, Yuuki-kun! You're back!" Satoshi came over to them. He didn't feel comfortable asking what happened to them yet, seeing that they were uncomfortable being near each other. What could've happened between them since the last half hour? He glanced at Kasumi, who was worried as well.

"Hey…" Haruka greeted back, sounding distracted. Her mind was all over the place, not really paying attention. The tension was thick.

Sensing this, Satoshi tried to break the tension. "By the way Yuuki-kun, Vash-kun is doing better. I don't think he'll be ready in time for the battle, so you will have to use another Pokémon for the finals."

"Okay…" Yuuki sounded off as well.

"Let's get going to the finals. We only have about 15 minutes." Everyone nodded and left for the arena. When Satoshi passed by Yuuki, he caught his expression. He looked completely heart broken. It wasn't easy to notice, but Satoshi had been around him long enough to tell. He wasn't sure what happened, but something big happened within the last 45 minutes. It was too early to try and find out what was wrong, but he planned on trying later.

When everyone arrived, they found Hayabusa and team Tenshi waiting for them. After an exchange of greetings, Hayabusa started telling them the rules for the final match.

"This match is going to be different from the other matches. For one, you will no longer be handcuffed." Both teams cheered at this. "Alright, calm down. I'm sure you are all excited about it, but let me finish. Each member will be pitted against their opposing counter parts. There will be no use of Pokémon in this battle. Is that clear?" Both teams nodded. "Good. Now first up will be Kasumi versus Takeshi. Take your places in the earth field." Their respective teams cheered as they entered the earth field.

"You may be cute, but that doesn't mean I'm going to go easy on you." Takeshi warned.

Kasumi smirked. "I would say the same thing, but you're not cute."

Takeshi's grin dropped. "That was low..."

Hayabusa stepped up to the sidelines of the field. "If you two are done with the trash talking, let us get this round started. Round one, team Tenshi's Takeshi versus team Tatsujin's Kasumi. Ready…? FIGHT!"

"HYAA!" Both fighters charged at each other quickly. Right before their fist connected, Takeshi slammed his chi filled fist into the ground, sending a wave of sand at her. He took his opportunity when he saw that she was blinded and attacked.

_Punch! Punch! Drop kick!_

Kasumi managed to block the last attack, but it pushed her back a few feet. Takeshi wasn't done…

"HA! HA! HA! HA!" He repeated with each thrust. A small wave of force erupted from his clenched first, sending a volley of chi force attacks at her. Kasumi had no choice but to stay on the defensive as she blocked and dodge the attacks. His offensive strategy was basic, but impressive on how he pulled it off. Being a fighter meant that a lot of your techniques were offensive. Once you had knocked someone off balance, they were at your mercy. When Kasumi saw an opening, she immediately took her chance. She dashed left and right as she closed in on her opponent.

_Punch! Kick! Thrust punch! Triple kick!_

Takeshi barely blocked the attacks. He was impressed with her speed and power. She wasn't just attacking him blindly; her attacks were both ferocious and methodical. He had some advantage in strength, but he didn't believe that any fighter could match her speed. His defense was starting to cave from her relentless assaults. He had to do something quick!

Suddenly, he took on an odd battle stance and stood stock still. Kasumi had no idea what he was doing, but decided to stay on the offensive. Hayabusa shook his head when he saw her about to attack.

'_Bad idea Kasumi-chan…'_ he thought grimly.

_WAM!_

Kasumi tumbled across the ground and slammed into a boulder. She fell for his trick. Takeshi pulled off a counter. It left you open to range attacks, but could do heavy damage. That move really hurt!

'_Satoshi-kun!'_ Kasumi thought, glancing to see him. He was staring back at her, but didn't look hurt or anything. Did the spell wear off? She hoped it did. Takeshi was heading her way, and fast.

_POW!_

"GUH!" Kasumi was pushed back even further. For the next 2 minutes, they exchanged a blur of kicks, punches, and chi attacks, but Kasumi was being backed into a corner. Her feet were barely on the edge of the arena. If she over stepped her boundaries, she would have to be back in 10 seconds, or forfeit. Takeshi was pushing her in the corner on purpose! She had an idea though…

"HIYA!" Takeshi attempted to finish her with a kick, but in that moment, she took on a similar pose that of Takeshi's counter. His eyes widened when she caught his foot. She pulled off his counter in a split second!

"RAAH!" She spun in a complete circle and tossed him out the arena. He landed with a thud.

10…9…8…

Takeshi got up when was about to make a mad dash back in when he saw something shocking. She turned her back against him and started to…strip?

7…6…5…

Kasumi's training shirt was lowered halfway down her back, showing off her smooth and lustrous skin. She smiled seductively and winked at him. "You want some of this, don't you?" She teased. He nodded quickly, grinning like an idiot. The male crowd whistled at her.

4…3…2…

Takeshi was entranced by her display, and it showed with his drooling. _'Man Kasumi-chan's hot! She has a nice…WAIT A MINUTE!'_

1…0!

"This round is over. The winner of the first round is Kasumi!" Hayabusa announced. Takeshi's jaw dropped.

"THAT WAS SO UNFAIR!"

Kasumi fixed herself and sent him a knowing wink. "Like Ibuki-sensei always said: Keep your mind on the fight, nothing else."

Takeshi's shoulder's drooped as he shuffled back shamefully to his teammates. Kasumi giggled when his teammates started chewing his ear off. She went back to her teammates as well.

"Great job Kasumi-chan!" Her teammates praised.

Kasumi flashed them her victory sign. "It was easy! I just had to put on the ol' charm."

"-Cough-Oldisright-cough-." Satoshi joked. Kasumi was about to lay him out when he waggled his finger at her. "Uh-uh-uh! You don't want to hurt yourself do you? We're still in the finals."

Kasumi growled in response. _'It will only last until later tonight, so say your prayers!'_ Satoshi gulped at the frightening thought.

Hayabusa raised an eyebrow. "Well…that was interesting…" He mused. "Okay, next up is Imite versus Yuuki. Take your place in the water arena!" The said students went over to the water arena, standing on the opposite patches of dirt. When he saw that they were ready, he started the second round. "Round 2, team Tenshi's Imite versus team Tatsujin's Yuuki. Ready…? FIGHT!"

Immediately, Yuuki went on the offensive and faded, going in for a stealth strike. When he appeared behind her, he was about to strike her when she disappeared and struck his back.

_SLASH!_

"GAH!" Yuuki stumbled forward. He turned around to attack her when their blades clashed, putting them in a dead lock. Their strength was about the same. Yuuki noticed something strange when he looked into her eyes. There was a strange glint. Yuuki broke the deadlock and stood in a pose. He was confused when he saw Imite do the same thing.

"HIYA!"

"HIYA!"

Both made a mad dash at each other, only to have their weapons clash. They jumped back and circled each other. _'What the heck…?'_ Yuuki thought. He moved one of his hands, noticing her doing the same thing. _'Is it me, or is she copying me?'_

"What are you up to?"

"What are you up to?" Both said at the same time.

"Quit it!"

"Quit it!"

"Grr…"

"Grr…" This wasn't making any sense! It was as if she was…

"…Mimicking your every move?" Imite finished for him. Yuuki's stepped back in surprise. She was even copying his thoughts! Regaining his composure, he made some distance between them and started a series of hand symbols and chants, conjuring an attack. At the same exact moment, Imite copied him move for move. It was a full minute before they finished conjuring their attack.

"WATER STYLE: RIPTIDE CRUSH!"

"WATER STYLE: RIPTIDE CRUSH!" Behind them wave a large wave of water that rushed towards their opponent. The miniature tsunamis canceled each other out, causing them to collapse and create a humongous splash.

"Curse you!"

"Curse you!" This was getting ridiculous!

In the stands, Satoshi and the rest were baffled. They were watching with team Tenshi.

"How the heck is she doing that?" Satoshi asked Hiroshi.

"She's one of the few students in this entire school who could use the mimic technique that perfectly. But that's not all she can do…" Hiroshi watched on with an amused expression.

Back on the battle field, Yuuki was still unable to figure out how to beat her. Imite's attacks were the same exact strength and were performed at the same exact time. Any attack he would use on her would cancel out. That was when he thought of a plan. He could use an electrical attack to shock the water! It might knock them both out, but at least it would stop her attacks. He was about to perform his attack when a pair of hands grabbed his ankles from underwater! He was about to get his feet loose when another pair of hands locked his arms from behind!

"WHAT?" His eyes widened. Imite made replicas of herself, but when? That was when he remembered earlier.

During the deadlock, he caught a glint in her eyes. It must have been her mimic technique! It was a really hard move to pull off since you had to catch a glimpse of your opponent's eyes, thereby enabling her to copy his movements. But what he really missed was what she did at that exact moment. She made a duplicate of herself and had it fight him while she went underwater. She must've also predicted that he would use a water technique, because that was when she created two more duplicates under water and had one grab his feet and the other restrain his arms, leaving him defenseless. But if all three he was fighting were fakes…where was the real one?

That was when the real Imite jumped out of the water in front of him and yelled out an attack. "PARALYISIS STRIKE!"

_ZAP!_

"AH!" His body was being electrified by the lightning element attack. Combing the fact that he was wet increased its power and paralyzed all the muscles in his body! All of the Imite clones disappeared. Yuuki was about to sink in the water when she carried him to borderline of the arena and carefully laid him on the floor.

"Nice try snowy-kun." Imite giggled. Hayabusa started the countdown…even though it was obvious who won.

10…9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1…0! This round is over. The winner of round two is team Tenshi's Imite!" The crowd roared with applause. Satoshi and everyone else ran over to Yuuki.

"Sorry guys…I messed up…" Yuuki apologized.

Haruka shook her head. "No you didn't. It was a tough fight and you did well." She placed her hands over the wound and closed her eyes. "Cure…" A small blue wave emanated from her hands onto his wounds, healing it. Satoshi narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

'_That's strange…he could've easily countered that finisher, but he didn't. Why is he so distracted?'_ He noted the serious look on Haruka's face. _'Come to think of it, Haruka-chan seems off as well.'_

'_So you noticed too?'_ Kasumi inquired.

'_Yeah. I think we should talk to them about it tomorrow. I'll talk to Yuuki-kun about it while you talk to Haruka-chan.'_

'_Okay.'_

Seeing that she had just finished healing, Hayabusa started the next round. "Haruka and Furuura, please go to the ice arena for your next round."

"Good luck Haruka-chan!" Satoshi cheered.

"Go get em!" Kasumi said after.

"You can do it!" Yuuki said last.

Haruka smiled and nodded. "Right." Her smile dropped when she saw Yuuki's eyes. His voice sounded excited, but his eyes showed disappointment. It made her heart ache just to remember what happened.

"…_It just proves what you really are…an angel…"_

_In that instant, her body was overtaken by an intense emotion, driving her to press her lips upon his. He had clearly been surprised by this. It was Haruka's turn to be surprised however, because he returned it by embracing her. This surprised her in more ways then one. Her memories went back to the truth and dare game, when Satoshi asked him if he had a crush on someone. His answer was yes. She had wondered who the girl was that he had a crush on…until now. She finally realized who it was…_

_It was her._

_She didn't know what to think. Her feelings for him were muddled. She liked him, but she didn't she like him in that way. It was Satoshi she was after. There was no way of putting him down easily, so she had to be straight forward. Summing up all of her courage, she gently pushed him away, avoiding eye contact._

"_I'm sorry…but…I can't say I feel the same way you do…" The look on Yuuki's face broke her heart. He was devastated. His eyes were shut tightly, refusing to show any signs of weakness. Something strange happened though. The spell was broken, so she couldn't read his thoughts or emotions. _

_So why was she feeling his heart ache?_

"_I…I understand…" Yuuki said slowly. He stood up and was about to leave when her hand grasped his._

"_Wait a minute…" She took a deep breath before continuing, "We can still be friends…I just don't feel the same way you do…understand?"_

"…"

"_Yuuki-kun?"_

"…_Yeah, I understand. So, we're still friends?"_

"_Yeah, still friends. Now let's go, everyone's waiting for us…"_

Yuuki must still be feeling down over it. Haruka could only hope that he gets over his disappointment and finds someone else. It was just a crush after all, right? It would pass eventually. Shaking out her thoughts, her concentration went back to the impeding battle. A minute later, she approached the ice field. The landscape was designed similarly to the earth field, except the boulders were ice and the sand was snow. Furuura stood across from her, endowed with the same design mage's robe and wand in hand.

"I hope you're ready to lose!" Furuura grinned as she readied herself for battle.

"I'm ready to win. You're the one who's going down." Haruka countered.

Hayabusa approached the ring. "Okay, now that everyone's done using cliché lines, are you ready?" The girls nodded. "Round 3. Team Tenshi's Furuura versus team Tatsujin's Haruka. Ready…? FIGHT!"

"Frost Arrows!" Furuura called out. The snow around her shot up in the air and turned into arrows. One after another, they fired at Haruka.

"Flame Shield!" A fire barrier protected Haruka from the rain of ice arrows. She saw Furuura performing a chant, indicating that she was trying to use a powerful spell. With speed similar to Yuuki's, she sped towards the mage.

"Oh no you don't! Aero strike!" Furuura swung her wand in Haruka's direction. A powerful gale stopped Haruka's assault. While Haruka was at bay, she continued her chant. Haruka just broke out of the gale attack when Furuura finished her chanting. "Now, element buster, materialize!" Her wand floated in front of her as she did special hand symbols. When completed, the wand started to change shape. Soon, it turned into a well detailed sword. She used the sword to swipe at Haruka, but she jumped back at the nick of time.

"What is that?" Haruka asked.

"This is my element buster. I made it myself! This is my quick and easy way to combine physical damage with magical damage, and with Hiroshi-kun's training I'm as good as any samurai!" She stepped back and took on an offensive pose. "Look out, because here I come! HIYA!"

_Left slash! Right slash! Horizontal slash! Diagonal slash!_

Haruka blocked and parried each attack, but got thrown off balance by the last attack. Furuura held the sword at her side and charged it with the fire attribute.

"Fire sword, activate!" The sharp blade of the sword turned red. With a horizontal slash, a wave of fire emanated from it and hit Haruka. She fell down on the snow, her robe singed from the attack. Haruka barely had time to roll out of the way when Furuura made a downward slice.

'_Man, that sword is too hard to dodge. Maybe there's something I can do…'_ Her eyes widened when she got an idea. She started doing a chant. Furuura didn't hesitate to attack her quickly.

"Thunder sword, activate!" Furuura's weapon lost its red glow and turned yellow. "Lightning strike! HA!" She dashed at her, the sword held overhead for a powerful strike. Unfortunately for Furuura, Haruka was expecting that.

"Assimilate!" Her eyes flashed white in one instant. Furuura's sword was about to connect when…

_CLANG!_

Furuura's eyes widened. "That can't be!"

Her sword was repelled by an exact replica!

"I should thank you for that one. The assimilate attack never fails!" Haruka boasted.

"Assimilate?"

"Yep!" She nodded. "What I can do is if an opponent uses an attack that I can learn I copy it and use it for myself!" Her foot slid back as she held the sword backhanded. She took on a ninja stance. "You may have the skill of a samurai, but I have the mastery of a ninja!" She turned to Yuuki and gave him the thumbs up. He couldn't help but grin.

"Show them what we're all about!" Yuuki cheered.

Haruka nodded and turned her attention to Furuura. "Impressed?" Furuura nodded.

"Very. But don't think you've won yet! This fight is far from over!" Furuura held the sword to her side, as though to sheath it. "I'm not going down without a fight!"

"Neither am I! HA!" Haruka leapt towards her.

_Slash! Parry! Slash! High slash! Miss! Parry! Counter!_

Both girls were going all out at each other, neither defense faltering. Furuura decided to change her tactics.

"Fire sword, activate!" Her sword gained the fire attribute. She stabbed the sword into the ground, melting the snow and making steam. For a moment, Haruka was blinded.

_Blade rush!_

Furuura appeared behind her almost instantaneously. A few tense moments passed by and a soft thud could be heard from within the steam. She smiled to herself. Haruka was defeated…at least she thought so until the steam disappeared.

"WHAT?" she gasped. There stood a snowman version of Haruka, sticking her tongue at Furuura. Quickly, Furuura whirled around and blocked the oncoming attack from above.

_CLANG!_

"GAH!" The attack was so strong that it threw Furuura off balance. Haruka charged at her while she was caught off guard.

_SLASH!_

"AH!" Furuura received moderate damage, but bounced back in a counter.

_Slash! Back flip kick!_

Haruka got hit by both attacks, sending her flying. In mid air, she recovered and performed a quick chant. "Aero strike!" Furuura took a guard position, but soon realized that she wasn't her target. Haruka was targeting herself! The powerful gust propelled her towards Furuura for a coup de grace! Furuura saw this coming and only had one chance for victory!

"HAAA!"

"HIYAA!"

_SLASH!_

Their speed was so incredible that it all happened in the blink of an eye. They both stood stock still, their backs facing against each other. The crowd got silent. Even Hayabusa wasn't sure who was going to emerge victorious. After a few intense moments, both girls collapse simultaneously!

"This round is a draw!" Hayabusa announced. The crowd applauded loudly, cheering them for a good battle. Satoshi and Hiroshi picked up their respective teammates. Haruka's eyes fluttered open.

"How did I do?" She asked weakly.

"You did great! This next match determines the winner of the tournament, and it's thanks to all you guys." Satoshi praised. Haruka smiled at the complement.

"Thanks, that means a lot. I'm sorry, but is it alright if I can sleep for…" Her eyes closed before she could finish.

"Hey Kasumi-chan. Here's someone that falls asleep faster than you." Satoshi joked.

"What are you…oh…that." She ended flatly. "You're never going to let me live that down are you?"

He could only smirk. "Not on your life." He glanced back at the sleeping Haruka and had an idea. "Hey Yuuki-kun. Can you do me favor?"

"Hm?"

"Could you take Haruka-chan to the medical center for me? Vash-kun is there as well, so you could see him too."

"Err…um, sure. Okay." Satoshi placed her in his arms carefully.

"Alright, wish me luck you guys."

"Good luck. Win one for the team!" With that, Yuuki left with Haruka to go to the medical center. When Kasumi saw that they left, she gave Satoshi a worried glance.

"Are you sure you can fight in your condition? You are hurt."

Satoshi raised an eyebrow in surprise. "What are you talking about? I'm not—"

"Don't lie to me!" She snapped, "Remember, I can feel your pain just as you can feel mine. When I received those hits from Takeshi-kun, you pretended that you didn't feel it, but really you are injured. Isn't that right?"

"…It doesn't matter. I can still win! Just leave it to—arg!" He winced as he held his side.

"I'm used to this kind of pain from my training, but you on the other hand can't handle this level of injury in a fight."

"Don't worry about it. Besides, it's not like there's anything I can do about it." He shrugged.

"…Actually, there is still one way…" Kasumi reddened at the thought. Satoshi though, didn't catch her thoughts clearly.

"What are you talking ab—mmph!" His sentence was cut short by Kasumi's lips. It lasted for a few seconds before she broke it. "W-w-w-what was that about?" He asked, blushing madly.

"That was mainly because I didn't fulfill my dare from the game last night. Anyway, I would never hear the end of it if you lost because of my injuries, so don't take it seriously." She tossed him a frightening glare, clenching her fist. "But if you so happen to tell anyone I did that, or lose this duel, I'll castrate you with my bare hands!"

Satoshi started to sweat fiercely. That was no idle threat. Shakily, he gave her the thumbs up. "S-s-sure! Whatever you say!" He ran away as fast as he could, fueled by fear. When he left, she felt her lips. They were still tingling, and worse of all…she wouldn't stop smiling!

"Well, at least no one else saw that…"

"No one saw what?" A familiar voice inquired.

Kasumi nearly jumped out of her skin. "S-S-Sakura-neechan? What are you doing here?"

"Oh nothing!" Sakura waved off. "I just came to see my little sister win her matches. Botan-chan and Ayame-chan went to get some snacks."

Kasumi glanced left and right, making sure no one was around. "You…you didn't see anything a second ago did you?" She whispered.

"No, saw what?" She asked. Kasumi sighed in relief. "If you're talking about making out with your boyfriend, I did see that."

Kasumi blushed fiercely. "He isn't my boyfriend!"

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Sakura couldn't stop giggling. The look on her sister's face was priceless!

Kasumi waved frantically. "It isn't what you think! It's all because Haruka—"

"…Use the destiny bond spell on you by accident?"

Kasumi's jaw dropped in shock. "Does everyone know about it or something?" She asked incredulously.

"Actually, that just reminded me of a situation I've been through once before…"

"That actually happened to you?"

"Well…that's not important. Come with us while we watch your boyfriend win this round."

The glare Kasumi gave her was menacing. "I ALREADY TOLD YOU HE WASN'T MY BOYFRIEND!"

"Just kidding. And don't worry; this will be just between us." Sakura winked.

"It better be!" The two girls made their way to the stands.

Satoshi sighed as he gained some distance. His yellow ally grinned mischievously.

"So…did she French ya?" Raigeki joked.

"No!" Satoshi reddened fiercely.

"Sato-kun and Ka-chan sitting in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"

"Shut up!" Satoshi growled. The Pikachu leapt onto his shoulder.

"Oh come on. You know you liked it."

"Ehehe…well… a little bit…"

"AHA! Busted! Sato-kun has a crush! Sato-kun has a crush!" He sang loudly. Satoshi clamped his mouth shut.

"Quit it! It's not like that! YEOW!" Satoshi's pulled his hand back quickly. "You didn't have to bite me!"

"You didn't have to put it over my mouth!" Raigeki retorted, glaring.

"You wouldn't shut up about me and Kasumi-chan!"

"That's because you know you like her!"

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

"Do not!"

"Do not!"

"Do too!" Raigeki fell off his shoulder, laughing. "…HEY!"

"Tajiri Satoshi, please report to the nature arena for your final bout!" Hayabusa announced loudly.

"Well, its time for my match. Wish me like Raigeki-kun!" They flashed their good luck victory sign before Raigeki left to find Kasumi. When Satoshi arrived at the nature arena, he saw Hiroshi across from him. The nature arena, as the name implied, consisted of low cut grass and very few trees.

"This is it. One of us is going to win this tournament, and its going to be me!" Hiroshi declared, drawing his sword.

"We may be good friends, but here, we are rivals!" Satoshi drew his katana as well. Everyone watched intently as the two leaders were about to duel.

"Final round: team Tenshi's Hiroshi versus team Tatsujin's Satoshi. Ready…? FIGHT!"

"YAAAA!" The two team leaders charged at each other.

Elsewhere, Yuuki had just taken Haruka to the medical center. When he entered Vash's room, he smiled at the sight. Fiona's head was resting against Vash's side as his claw held her gently. They were both sound asleep. Sadly, this only reminded him of the pain he felt earlier. Haruka had rejected his affections. He had finally realized that he truly loved her, only to have his hopes decimated. As he laid her in the bed next to Vash's, he started brooding over his lost.

"I should have known it wasn't meant to be. She has truly fallen for Satoshi-kun…" Yuuki gazed at his hands. "What does he have that I don't? Where did I go wrong?" He sat on the floor, his eyes cast downward. Droplets of tears stained the hospital floor. "If she is gone…what reason is there for me to live?"

"Plenty." A voice spoke up. Yuuki turned to see who it was.

"Oh, you were listening Vash-kun?"

Vash nodded. "Yes, I was. You really are down about this, aren't you?"

Yuuki glanced at Haruka's resting form and nodded. "…It's just that I've finally realized how much I cared for her. But earlier, she told me that she didn't feel the same way. I truly wished that I could make her happy. To be there for her through any problem…to be the shoulder that she could cry on when sad…to be the one person she could always count on…"

Vash continued to listen to him. He had heard him talking about something of this nature before, but this was deeper than any conversation he had with him.

"It's funny though. When I first met her, I didn't think much about it. I was a thief who was trying to get food to live. After the shadow raid incident, I was left all alone. Soon however, the things that were left behind were stolen by people who were less fortunate and angry, until I had nothing but the clothes on my back. I didn't have food or money, and I was too young to work. I thought I was going to die…until he showed up. Mathisu-sensei saved me then and helped me out. Ever since then, I considered him as my father since my real one died before I was born. He wasn't able to take me in his home since he had very little money for him and his wife, so he set me up for the orphanage. Months passed by and no one wanted to adopt me, so I escaped. I took refuge in my old home and trained myself. I had no choice but to steal food and materials in order to stay in school and live.

Back then, I tried to make friends, I really tried. But whenever anyone saw my house, they were either scared of me, try to pry in my life, or ridiculed me. I was beaten up repeatedly by people who I failed to steal from. Heh, I was a joke to everyone then. But…then I met her…" He glanced back at Haruka and smiled softly. "Being the thief that I was, I tried to steal her lunch, only to get the snot beaten out of me for it. I was amazed that anyone younger than me was faster, especially a mage. She was the only person I couldn't successfully steal from, and I vowed from then on that I would not stop until I successfully stolen from her.

Many months passed without a successful attempt until one day, I managed to steal a pencil case from her. As strange as it sounds, it didn't feel like a victory. It didn't have that accomplish feeling. I returned it to her house by the end of the day and convinced myself that it was only practice. I remember that there were times when she was having trouble or she was feeling down." He held his hand over his heart and closed his eyes. "I felt something here that day. It was small, but it compelled me to help her. Just seeing her smile always made my day, especially when I was the reason for it. Something frightening happened though…it was the one day that she was being abused by her sisters. The grip that I had on my curse was broken after years of containment."

"Curse?" Vash asked. Yuuki nodded.

"Everyone one of my siblings had a curse that they were bound to. I had a brother and a sister who were also cursed. Mine, however, was no ordinary curse. Because it was released, I nearly killed her sisters. But then…something amazing happened. Haruka-chan was able to stop me. I didn't think it was possible. I managed to return to my normal self in time and regain control. When I tried to speak to her afterwards, she was too afraid of me. I felt devastated by that very fact. I never told anyone this, but I attempted suicide later that day."

Vash stared at him wide eyed. "Are you serious?" He gasped.

Yuuki nodded. "Yes, but I was unsuccessful. I didn't know why I couldn't do it. I've tried plenty of times before, but I was never able to pull it off. However, she came to me later on and embraced me affectionately." Yuuki held his shoulders, feeling warm by the memory. "I've never been held like that before. I didn't know what to think of it. She befriended me that day, and at that moment, I felt something grow inside of me. I now know that it was the feeling of having a crush. I couldn't bring myself to get her out of my mind. She was the main reason I smiled everyday. Later on though, she saw the inside of my house. When I entered my house that day, I saw her reading my journal. Reacting quickly, I knocked her unconscious, hoping she didn't learn too much. I'm not sure how, but she figured it out and confronted me. She cried that day…for me. She genuinely cared for me, as a friend." His ruby eyes sparkled with admiration, feeling warmer than before. "That one feeling in my heart skyrocketed to new, unforeseen heights. It was true love. I couldn't believe it at first. I tried to convince myself that it wasn't true. I found out the truth yesterday after that conversion we had. I thought for sure that she had felt the same way that I did for her. Today, she proved me wrong. She wanted Satoshi-kun…not me…she never wanted me…" He clenched his eyes tightly, but failed to hold back the tears that littered the floor. Moments later, he felt a warm presence around him. When he opened his eyes, he was surprised.

"Makyura-kun? Riku-kun? Vash-kun?" His Pokémon gathered close to him, holding him warmly.

"We didn't know that you had such a past…you should've said something sooner…" Riku said.

"It may seem like you are lonely sometimes, but you will always have us around." Vash said.

"It's true. You can always count on us to be by your side, no matter what." Makyura assured him.

"You guys…" More tears fell as Yuuki held them lovingly. "Thanks for everything. You're the best." His Pokémon cried with him, but their tears were out of joy, knowing that they would be together forever. Fiona watched them together from the side, tears of happiness falling down her eyes as well. They were truly a family.

Unbeknownst to them, Mathisu stood by the doorway, smiling warmly.

'_That's right Yuuki-kun. You are never alone. Remember that in the near future…you will need to...'_ He walked off silently.

Back on the battlefield, Satoshi was in a fierce battle with Hiroshi. They were evenly matched.

"Aerial special: Dive bomber!" Satoshi leapt in the air and performed a somersault before spiraling down at his opponent. Hiroshi sheathed his blade and took a step back.

"Hidden blade style attack: Aero pierce!" Hiroshi slashed at him with his blade, sending an invisible force attack at him. Satoshi maneuvered over the wind attack and charged at him with his blade raised.

_CLANG!_

Hiroshi blocked the attack and pushed him back. When Satoshi landed, he jumped from tree to tree, pushing himself off them and after him. Predicting his strategy, Hiroshi did the same. They collided multiple times in mid air, neither touching the ground at any point. Hiroshi's foot was about to land on the tree when it fell apart! Satoshi had cut it previously, luring him into a trap!

"Dragonic hyper slash!" Satoshi attacked him with ten light strokes and followed it up with a forward flip kick, sending him straight down. Hiroshi recovered and jumped out of way before Satoshi could finish him.

"Reversal strike!"

_SLASH!_

"GAH!" Satoshi was knocked back and off balance.

"HIYA!" Hiroshi dashed towards him to finish him off.

_CLANG!_

A sword twirled in the air and stabbed into the earth. It was Satoshi's blade, and he was currently defenseless!

"Nice one…" He growled. This was bad.

"Play times over. Prepare to lose Satoshi-kun. HA!" Hiroshi sheathed his blade and ran at him. Satoshi was left with only one option. He performed a rolling kick at him. Hiroshi was confused since he was a few feet short of actually hitting him, but that was when he was surprised. Satoshi's shoe flew off his feet and at him! He swiftly unsheathed his blade and knocked the shoe out of the way. "Hmph! Is that all you—" He was cut short by something wrapping around his sword. It was…his belt?

"KYAA!" Satoshi yanked his belt hard, forcing Hiroshi to discard his blade. The blade flew over to where Satoshi's sword was. They were both weaponless, but could still fight just as good.

"Very clever. You used your shoe to make me take out my sword, and then used your belt to make me discard it. Not bad." Hiroshi complimented.

"I had to. You're too good of an opponent to use cliché tactics." With that, Satoshi and Hiroshi ran at each other.

_Left hook! Backhand spin! Rolling kick!_

_Dodge! Block! Duck! Uppercut! Spin kick!_

_Dodge! Counter!_

_Guard! Jump kick!_

_Grapple toss!_

"WAAH!" Hiroshi was tossed in the air, but recovered in midair and used a tree to recoil and bounce back at him with a jump kick. Satoshi dodged it and tried to punch him, only to have him block it and follow up with a counter punch.

_POW!_

Satoshi was knocked back. Hiroshi didn't give him time to recover…

_Punch! Leaping uppercut! Mid air kick!_

Satoshi was knocked across the air and landed roughly on the ground. Hiroshi got more aggressive as he ran across the field to attack him. Satoshi got up and ran at him. When they met in the center, Hiroshi tried to punch him, but his fist landed on a log that appeared out of nowhere!

"Crap, a ninja decoy!" Hiroshi glanced over to see him running after the swords. He performed a quick chant. "Frost arrows!" Ice arrows materialize in the air and were tossed at Satoshi. The raven haired samurai was about to grab his sword when a fleet of frozen arrows negated the action, forcing him to jump away. That stunt enabled Hiroshi to catch up with him and go for the blade. Both samurai's grabbed their respective blades and jumped back, panting heavily. After getting a short second wind, they both ran up adjacent trees, slashing at each other. When they made it to the top, they stood on thin, wavering branches as they attacked each other fiercely, combing samurai and fighter techniques.

_SNAP!_

Suddenly, the two branches broke, but the two didn't stop attacking as they fell down the tall tree. When they landed, they jumped away from each other. The both of them had been fighting for over 15 minutes, and it was taking a toll on their bodies. They had only one shot left before they were out of strength.

"Well, I've got to admit, you are a worthy opponent. I don't think I've ever fought so hard in my life!" Satoshi complimented.

"That means a lot coming from you. But one thing is for certain, someone is about to lose…" They both grinned and took on a battle stance.

"AND THAT PERSON IS YOU!" They shouted simultaneously. They tossed their swords in the air and ran at each other. With a battle cry, they leapt towards each other and grabbed the swords as they were about to strike.

_SLASH!_

They both landed on the ground, with their blades in hand and knelt on the ground. The tension was intense. Someone had won the battle. Hiroshi smirked knowingly.

"Good job…looks like you got me…" Hiroshi fell to the ground.

"The match is over! The winners of this match and the tournament are team Tatsujin!" A loud cry resounded in the stands, followed by applause.

"YEAH! I WON!" Satoshi cheered loudly. Kasumi and Raigeki ran towards him.

"SATOSHI-KUN, YOU DID IT!" They screamed.

"Alright! I won't get dismembered!" Out of sheer glee, Satoshi grabbed Kasumi and danced about excitedly.

"Hey, chill out!" Kasumi laughed. When Satoshi released, they were both dizzied from being spun around.

"Heh, sorry. I just got excited about winning."

"We can see that."

Raigeki jumped on his head. "That was such a super cool fight! I couldn't look away for an instant!"

"But its all thanks to you guys for helping out." He gave Kasumi a high five.

"I think she gets the picture." A voice behind them said.

"Oh, Hayabusa-sensei!" Satoshi bowed.

"Congratulations. You all deserve a well earned break. If you do this well in Friday's competition, you are ensured a chance to enter the bushido league. Now go home and take the next day off." Hayabusa told him. Satoshi nodded and was about to go when he remembered something.

"Kasumi-chan, you and Raigeki-kun go ahead of me. I got to do something first."

Kasumi nodded. "Okay. Come on Raigeki-kun." The Pikachu scampered next to her as they went to the medical center. Satoshi looked around until he saw Hiroshi and his team. He came up and greeted them. "Hey you guys."

"What's up champ?" Takeshi replied.

"Oh, I need to talk to Furuura-san about something. Is it alright if I can borrow her for a short bit?"

"Sure, but be warned, Hiroshi-kun called dibs on her."

"HEY!" Hiroshi glared. Satoshi led Furuura to a spot where they couldn't be spied upon.

"Is something wrong?" She asked.

Satoshi had a serious expression on his face. "It's about Kasumi-chan. I know I shouldn't be asking this, but I feel that I might be able to help her out if I knew her more. Do you think you can tell me what happened in her past? Like why she's always so angry?"

Furuura seemed very unsure about this idea. "…I don't know if I should…"

"Please! I really want to help her." Satoshi pleaded. The look in his eyes told her how serious he was about it. He really did want to help her.

"…Okay, I will tell you. It all happened over 10 years ago, during the shadow raid…"

_A six year old Kasumi was paralyzed with fear. Specters and other such creatures were attacking the school and killing many of the unsuspecting inhabitants. The people who could be recognized as her parents were with her._

"_I will protect the front door. Make sure the girls are okay." Kasumi's father said. Her mother nodded._

"_Be careful out there."_

"_I will. I plan on coming back." He grabbed his weapon and headed out the door. Kasumi tugged on her mother's dress._

"_Is daddy going to be okay?"_

_Her mother held her tightly. "I'm sure he is going to be okay. Let's have faith in him…"_

_10 minutes passed, and the family feared the worst for him. Then, the door opened. Everyone looked to see that Kasumi's father had come back…but something was different about him. He had a strange smile on his face._

"_Honey, you're back!" Her mother cried. She got worried when he didn't respond. All he did was walk towards her. "H-honey? Is something wrong?"_

"…_Yes, something is horribly wrong…" He said ominously. _

_STAB! _

"…_You're still alive…"_

_Kasumi's eyes widened in horror. Her father had just stabbed her mother! He didn't stop there. He continually slashed and stabbed her until she bled to death. Kasumi's sisters were hiding in the closet, but Kasumi saw everything from start to finish. When her father was finished, he licked the blood of the knife and laughed maniacally._

"_More…I need more blood!" He glanced at a horrified Kasumi and smirked devilishly, bloodlust evident in his eyes. "Give me your blood! YAAA!"_

_SLASH!_

_Kasumi got cut in the back while trying to run. She barely dodged his strikes and advances. It continued until she reached the kitchen. There was a knife on the table and she took it. When she turned around, her father kicked her across the kitchen._

"_Die you pathetic worm, DIE!" He came at her with a knife in hand._

_STAB!_

"_Guh!" He stumbled back, Kasumi's knife in his chest. He dropped to his knees and fell on the floor, dead. Little Kasumi was frozen stiff with fear. He had killed her mother and was about to kill her, but she took his life instead. All she could do was sit at a corner and cry the rest of the night…_

"…And from then on, she had terrible luck with guys. Most of them didn't care about her and treated her badly, so she just built a wall that pushed every male away from her." Furuura finished.

"That's…horrible…" Satoshi gasped. Never in his life would he have thought she went through something so traumatizing. He felt himself tear up just thinking about it. That had to be the worst thing to experience.

Furuura gave him a sincere glance. "She doesn't like talking about it, but maybe you can help her…"

His fist was clenched tightly. "…I will…I will help her get through this. No one should have to go through something like that!"

Furuura smiled at his enthusiasm. "She likes to go out to the park around midnight, so it might be best if you catch her around that time tonight. Don't say anything till then, alright?"

"Right. Thanks for telling me…" Satoshi turned and left to go find his friends.

"Good luck Satoshi-kun…"

Later, Satoshi had met up with the rest of team Tatsujin had gone to their separate houses to rest up for the day. Satoshi had awoken ten minutes before midnight. A goal in mind, he got up from his bed and got dressed. The night air was still and warm. As he walked across the park, he scanned the area for Kasumi. He looked around for over 10 minutes, but no luck.

"Maybe…she didn't come tonight…" Suddenly his eye caught something orange. When he looked, he saw Kasumi. She was sitting in front of a lake, under the light post. He slowly walked over to, trying not to alert her. She was hugging her knees as she gazed off at the still water as if transfixed by it. Satoshi was about to say something when she spoke up.

"Why did you have to go away…?" She said softly. "Was there anything I could've done to help you back then? Or was I too weak and feeble to save you? Mom…I'm sorry I couldn't save you…" She lowered her head, letting loose her tears. Satoshi accidentally stepped on a twig, alerting her to his presence. She gasped and jumped up, preparing to beat down the intruder. "Satoshi-kun? What are you doing here?"

"I…just wanted to see how you were doing." He answered.

She huffed in response. "Yeah right! Probably trying to play a trick on me."

"No, I wasn't." Satoshi shook his head. "I was just checking up on you, that's all."

She grunted and started to walk pass him. "I don't need anyone checking up on me! I am doing perfectly fine by myself!"

"You were crying just now…" He said suddenly. She stopped just as she passed him.

"…It was nothing. Just forget it."

"I'm afraid that's impossible. I know what happened to you in the past Kasumi-kun."

She was surprised, but didn't show it. "…Don't pretend to care Tajiri Satoshi!"

"But I'm not pretending." He said seriously, turning to face her. She whipped around and came up to his face.

"Don't give me your goody-goody routine! What happened to me is none your business!"

"…" His eyes were cast downward, his bangs covering his eyes.

"What, cat got your tongue? Got nothing to say?" She spat. When he looked up at her, her expression turned sour. The look in his eyes was so pure and honest. It suited him perfectly. She didn't like the look of his eyes in the least.

It was too innocent for her taste.

Silently he walked up to her until he was right in front. He didn't say anything, but just stared at her. What he did next threw her off.

He embraced her.

"Get…away…"

_Punch!_

She punched him in the stomach, hard. He winced in pain, but continued to hold on. "I said get lost!"

_Punch! Punch! Punch! Punch!_

She was baffled. No matter how hard she tried to push him away, he wouldn't let go. Her punches started to get weaker and weaker, until she slowed to a stop.

"It's…okay…" Satoshi coughed. "You can continue if it will help…"

"…Why…why are you doing this? What's the point?"

"I do this…because I can…" He whispered.

"Because you can?"

"Yes. I want to help those that I care about…"

Her eyes widened. When she looked into his eyes, she found that everything he said was not only true, but came from the heart. "You…care about me?" She choked.

"…Yeah, I do." He answered softly, running his fingers through her hair. "It is like my brother always taught me. Family must stick together. I think of you, Haruka-chan and Yuuki-kun as not just some team, or the greatest friends I've ever had, but as a family that I will never forget about…ever…"

His words were so passionate that she could feel its very warmth. He genuinely cared about her. She didn't think there was anyone in the world who was like him…or would be able to take his place.

First the first time in many years, she was truly happy.

Overcome with emotion, she hugged him tightly and silently cried in his chest. Satoshi rubbed her back gently.

"That's good. Cry until your heart's content." Satoshi smiled warmly, glad that he was able to give her a gentle push in the right direction. The sores from the earlier battles started to take its toll, and those punches from Kasumi exceeded his limits...

After a few moments, Kasumi felt surprisingly better. But suddenly, she felt Satoshi getting heavier. That was when she realized that he must have been very exhausted when he came out here, and those punches of hers didn't help. With a sigh, she took his arm and held him up like a crutch. Exhaustion was overtaking her, but she had a debt to pay, and she always repaid her debts.

Using all of her remaining stamina, she carried the unconscious Satoshi towards his dorm. While walking, she could hear him sleep talk.

"…Stop it Raigeki-kun, that's my rice ball…"

Kasumi giggled lightly. It would seem that he and Raigeki had their own sorts of competitions. He started speaking again.

"…Please be okay…Kasumi-chan..."

She couldn't help but smile. _'If he keeps worrying like that, he's going to get old really quick.'_ She continued to trudge tirelessly across the school grounds.

Meanwhile in Satoshi's apartment, Shigeru awoke from his slumber. Unable to get back to sleep, he got up from his bed and headed towards the kitchen. After getting a drink of water, he went to check up on Satoshi in his room, only to raise an eyebrow in surprise. Kasumi and Satoshi were lying against the bed, holding onto each other for support. They were both snoring peacefully. A wicked smile was plastered on his face as he watched them.

_'They are going to have a pleasant surprise when they wake up.'_

* * *

How did you like that? Didn't see that one coming did ya? Please stay tuned and review like always!


	9. The big date

Disclaimer: Umm…there's a reason I don't own Pokémon. If you don't get it by now, just stand still for a few moments, this won't take long…-goes to get sniper rifle-

* * *

_Satoshi knelt on the floor, clutching a frail corpse. His eyes were blurry from his tears and the rain. He laid the body on the floor and stood up, his sword in a deadly vice grip that almost crushed the handle. He cast a deadly glare at the maniacal snow haired man that stood across from him, flashing his smug grin._

"_You sick and demented creature…" He growled lowly. "I…I shall not let you get away with this! I will avenge her death…by KILLING YOU!"_

Satoshi shot up from his bed, sweating profusely. That was a new dream. The ones beforehand only bothered him, but this one frightened him. Was he really going to kill someone? He had never killed anyone nor ever thought to do so. What could've happened that was so bad that it would change his principles? Only succeeding in getting a headache, he shook his head furiously.

'_What am I thinking? It's just some stupid dream. Just let it go already!_' He told himself. He lay back on the bed, closing his eyes to get a few more minutes of rest, but there was something that threw him off. What was he doing in bed in the first place? The last thing he remembered was holding Kasumi and letting her know that everything would be alright. But how he got back on his bed was a completely mystery. Did she…no, not Kasumi, he figured. She wouldn't carry him all the way back to his dorm…would she? At least, he helped her get on the right track. Wait a minute…where did his shirt go?

His thoughts were interrupted by an arm that wrapped around his neck. Normally, he would've been alarmed, but it felt so…warm and comfortable. It lulled his senses. He looked on his left and saw Kasumi snuggling against him, her breath beating against the nape of his neck. Just then, Kasumi opened her eyes and stared back at Satoshi lazily.

"Good morning…" They both said simultaneously. They closed their eyes and snuggled closer. minutes later, their eyes snapped open and stared at each other, this time in shock. Kasumi was resting on top of a shirtless Satoshi with her arms across his bare chest and her leg across his waist. Satoshi was holding an underwear clad Kasumi while lying on his back. The heat that emanated off their blushing faces had the potential to melt steel.

Moments later, shrill screams echoed throughout the entire school.

"2 minutes and 12 seconds. That's a brand new record for denseness." Shigeru joked, leaning against the door way.

Satoshi and Kasumi shot up and away from each other. "Shigeru-niichan! What happened to us?" They demanded. Shigeru had to bite his tongue to prevent laughing out loud.

They were making this too easy for him.

He dramatically held his forehead, groaning. "Aw man! You two were going at it like rabbits last night! I couldn't get a wink of sleep with all the noise you two were making. I mean sheesh, can't you two do that kind of thing elsewhere? Especially with the moaning and screaming…it lasted for hours! Oh, did I forget to mention that Kasumi-chan's a screamer?"

Kasumi narrowed her eyes at him. She caught on to his little scheme. "Yeah right! I bet you just set us up like this on purpose!"

Shigeru held his hand over his heart, feigning shock. "Why Kasumi-chan I am shocked! What could possibly make you think such ill thoughts of me?"

"Like for one, if we really did do it, we would be sweaty and not be wearing any clothes, not to mention that hell would've frozen over."

Shigeru shrugged, showing surrender. "Heh, guilty as charged."

"Anyway, only an idiot would believe something so outrageous, right Satoshi-kun?" No response. "Satoshi-kun?" When she looked at him, her jaw dropped. He was frozen stiff, wide eyed.

Satoshi fainted.

"…I think he actually believed that. Talk about gullible…" Shigeru mused. He backed away slowly when he saw the look on Kasumi's face.

"Do you mind telling me why I'm in my underwear?" She growled.

"Err…look at the time, gotta run!" He dashed out of the dorm with great haste, Kasumi in hot pursuit.

10 minutes later, a still traumatized Satoshi and a frustrated Kasumi sat at the dining room table.

"For the last time…we didn't do it!" Kasumi explained for the tenth time.

"…Are you positive?" Satoshi asked shakily. At wits end, Kasumi grabbed his neck and started choking him.

"YES I'M POSITIVE!"

"Ack! Okay, I believe you!" Satoshi choked. He was thankful when she released her death grip. Soon enough, Shigeru came inside the dining room with a huge bump on his head, thanks to Kasumi's mallet.

"Alright, I called your family to let them know that you're here. So—"

"YOU WHAT?" She shot up from the table with a look of pure terror on her face. Shigeru was confused.

"Is something wrong with that?"

"Yes there is! You don't know my sisters like I do!" Just then, there was a series of frantic knocks at the door.

"Whoa, they're here already?" Shigeru went to open the door.

Kasumi jumped out of the chair and hid behind Satoshi. "Don't let them see me!"

As soon as Shigeru twisted open the door handle, the door flew open, knocking him down. The three hostile sisters stampeded over him, tracking down their youngest sister. When they entered the dining room, they found Satoshi staring back at him in confusion and Kasumi making a pathetic attempt to hide behind him. They towered over her.

"YAWA MISTERIA KASUMI-CHAN, YOU BETTER EXPLAIN YOURSELF!" Sakura, Ayame and Botan demanded. Even Satoshi couldn't help but cower under their frightful gaze.

"Um…this is between you and her, so I think I'll be going now…" Satoshi tried to sneak away, only to be put in a head lock by Botan.

"You're not going anywhere!"

"Kasumi-chan, you better tell us what you're doing sleeping at Satoshi-chan's dorm!" Sakura interrogated.

"Um…well…it's kind of difficult to explain…" Kasumi fumbled over her words. Ayame gasped when she saw what they were wearing.

"Oh my gosh! They are in their underwear!"

Botan tightened her hold over Satoshi's neck. "This sure as heck better not be what it looks like Tajiri-kun!"

"My neck!" He squeaked in a high pitched voice.

"Quit whining you sissy!" Botan reprimanded.

"Kasumi-chan, please tell me you guys didn't sleep in the same bed together." Sakura pleaded.

"Um…well…" She gazed down at the floor, extremely embarrassed. Her sisters gaped in shock.

"Kasumi-chan you little devil!" Sakura accused.

"I knew I heard screaming from you and Satoshi-kun! I've never would've guessed that our little sister was a screamer." Botan glanced down at Satoshi, raising an eyebrow. "Um…Satoshi? Are you okay?"

Kasumi's clenched her fist in agitation. Satoshi fainted…again! Beyond the point of irritation, she, once again, started strangling him.

"She was talking about this morning when we woke up you idiot!" She told him through gritted teeth.

"Okay, I get it! Gack! Stop choking me!" He squeaked sharply. Satoshi fell to the ground, panting for air when she released him. Sakura cracked her knuckles.

"Oooh, I can't WAIT to find the guy who called us to give him a piece of my mind!" She huffed.

"And I just happen to be that guy." Shigeru said from behind. Sakura whirled around to see him leaning against the hallway wall, wearing his traditional smirk. "It's been awhile, Sakura-chan."

Sakura gasped in surprise. "It's you!" She took one look at Satoshi and Kasumi and calmed down. "It's alright girls, nothing bad happened here."

"How do you know?" Botan asked, putting Satoshi back in the head lock.

Satoshi cried in agony. "My poor neck…"

"Because I know him all too well. He wouldn't let his kid brother do anything stupid. He's cool, but…" She stepped up to his face, glaring. "I don't approve of the fact that you undressed my little sister like that!"

"Don't be like that. I didn't see anything I shouldn't, and besides…from what I saw so far, I can tell that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree." He winked slyly.

"Oh no you don't! You're not sweet talking your way out of this one!"

"Shigeru-niichan, you know her?" Satoshi asked, still in the head lock. Shigeru nodded.

"Yep. We go way back, don't we?"

Sakura sighed contently. "Those were good times..." She caught herself and glared at the smiling Shigeru. "Don't change the subject! You tricked those poor kids into thinking they did it!"

Shigeru shrugged apologetically. "What can I say? It was fun. I even have a picture!" He waved a few flimsy photos. "I made sure to save you a few copies, my—" Sakura hurriedly placed her hand over his mouth, blushing madly.

"Don't say that in front of them! You know what that name does to me!" She whispered.

Shigeru gently removed her hand and leaned in close to whisper, still holding her hand. "Ah, so you do remember."

"How could I forget? We got into so much trouble because of that."

"Well you're the one who thought no one would come inside that particular closet." He pointed out.

"Um…what are you guys talking about?" Botan inquired.

"Nothing!" They both answered quickly.

"Anyway, let's go home. There's nothing going on here. Coming Kasumi-chan?"

"Sure. Let me just get my clothes." Kasumi left to get the rest of her belongings. After putting her clothes on, she and her sisters were about to leave when Shigeru called out to Sakura.

"Hey. Same time, same place." He requested simply. Sakura narrowed her eyes dangerously.

"Do you honestly think I'll go just because you demand it, like some obedient slave?"

"Actually, I demand it because I know you want to."

Sakura grinned at the reply. "Alright, see ya then." With that, she left to go back to her dorm. Satoshi raised an eyebrow.

"What was that about?" Satoshi asked, nursing the sores on his neck.

"She was the fighter on my old team. We used to hang out together."

"Really?" Satoshi beamed, suddenly interested.

Shigeru nodded. "Yeah. It's been awhile since I've seen her." He looked upward thoughtfully. "_Angels can only fly with both wings..._" Satoshi tilted his head in confusion.

"What's that suppose to mean?"

Shigeru was snapped out of his thoughts by the question. "Huh? Oh, it's nothing. What are you going to do today?"

"I think I'll visit Yuuki-kun today. I gotta talk to him and see what's up."

"Oh…is this about yesterday?"

"Yeah."

"Just be careful that you don't pry in too deep. You know how much Yuuki-kun despises that."

"Don't worry, I'll be careful. Well, I'm going. Later!"

"Later, Sato-kun." When Satoshi left, Shigeru fingered down his shirt and pulled out his necklace. A thin silver chain held up a small, silver angel wing on it. Half of it was missing. He sighed contently as he gazed at it. "It's been awhile…my one winged angel…" He put the medallion back in his shirt and left to get ready.

A few hours later, Shigeru was sitting on a bench at the park, waiting for Sakura's arrival. He glanced at his watch. It read 1:59.

"Almost time…" As soon as the watch hit two o'clock, he saw her approaching and smiled. She was always very punctual, and that was something he liked about her. "On time like always." He commented.

"But of course. I wouldn't hear the end of it if I was late." Sakura said. She took a seat on the bench next to him. "It's been months since we've seen each other."

"5 months, 3 days and 4 hours to be exact."

Sakura giggled under her breath. He was definitely the same Shigeru. "Calculating as always, but you forgot the minutes and seconds, which, by the way, are 20 minutes and 37 seconds."

Shigeru chuckled lightly. "Looks like I'm slipping. I must've caught the dense disease from Sato-kun."

Sakura punched him playfully in the arm. "Don't say that about your little brother. He's a good kid. He even took my sister home one time."

"Heh, sounds like him alright. He's definitely got heart."

"You really raised him well."

"Thanks. You did a good job with Kasumi-chan yourself, though she has your anger management issues." Sakura punched him in the arm again, this time a little bit harder. "Ouch, and she has your strength."

Sakura curled her arms, showing off her toned muscles. "It's like you always said: _A strong mind deserves just as strong body._"

"Yeah, I did say something like that…but did you have to mock my voice like that?"

"Of course. It sounds weird otherwise."

"Everything sounds weird when you say something."

Sakura shoved him lightly. "Does not!"

Shigeru did the same to her. "Does too!"

She shoved him again. "Does not!"

He returned the shove. "Does too!"

They continued to shove each other, and were enjoying themselves. Soon, they pushed each at the same time, causing their hands to collide with each other. Their expressions soften as their fingers entwined.

"Just like back then, huh?" Sakura said, grinning.

A smooth smirk graced Shigeru's features. "And do you remember what happened next?"

"Yep, I did this!" She tried to punch him in the face, only to have him block the hit. "Hey, you didn't block it last time!" She pouted.

"I also didn't do this." Shigeru leaned in and placed a small peck on her lips. Sakura lowered her arms and sighed.

"You always were very smooth."

He raised an eyebrow. "That's funny, because I don't remember you saying that later that night!"

_POW!_

Shigeru winced as he rubbed his arm. "Hey, I was kidding!"

"Well anyway, did you call me out here just to talk about old times?"

Shigeru shook his head. "Not quite. I just thought that we could hang out like we used to. Quite frankly, things have never been the same when our team broke up." He tossed her a serene glance. "I miss you, Sa-chan."

She averted her eyes, turning red under his gaze. "Well…I've missed you too Shi-kun. But…things have changed…I'm seeing someone right now…" Shigeru smile faltered, disappointed.

"Oh…" He turned his gaze outward. "So…what's his name?"

"…It's Tazuma-kun." She noted Shigeru's scowl. "He's changed. He isn't the scum that he used to be."

Shigeru thought differently, but kept it to himself. "For your sake, I hope you're right."

"Oh right, I've just remembered something!" She dug in her purse and pulled out 2 tickets, giving it to him. "I managed to get some invitations to where my date is going to take me. It's a really fancy restaurant, and they have some good food too. Botan-chan and Ayame-chan were going to go, but had a change of plans at the last minute, so I thought you and your brother could come along!"

"I don't know…" Shigeru really didn't want to see her date that "scumbag".

"Come on, please! I've even set up a surprise date for your brother!" She stared at him with pleading eyes.

Shigeru gritted his teeth. Curse those eyes! They always got him! "Okay fine. What time does it start?"

She cheered as she hugged him. "7 o'clock tonight. Make sure you both dress nice!" With that, she placed a peck on his cheek and left for home. Shigeru released a deep sigh. He wasn't going to like it, but he promised he would go. Tazuma had a streak in the past for breaking hearts and doing really bad things. He could only hope what Sakura said about him was true…

Elsewhere, Satoshi walked towards Yuuki's dorm. When he arrived, he knocked several times. After a few moments, an exhausted Yuuki opened the door, panting heavily.

"Hey…what's up…Satoshi-kun?" Yuuki said between breaths.

"You look terrible! What on earth happened?" His question was answered by the sounds of brawling and yelling in the background. Yuuki groaned as he let him inside.

"Could you excuse me for a second?" When Satoshi nodded, Yuuki ran to the room where the noise was coming from. Satoshi followed and gaped at the sight. The Ninjask was hiding behind Yuuki and making inappropriate comments about Vash, who was struggling to get past Yuuki and cut down the annoyance. Makyura was telling them to stop, but wasn't having any luck.

"Rikabu-kun and Vashuna-kun, you two better stop this instant!"

"But Yuuki-kun, he started it!" Riku accused, pointing at the Scyther.

"I started nothing! You're the one who started talking about me!"

"Enough already! If you don't stop…" Yuuki turned to Riku. "I'm going to tell everyone about your infatuation with Kiza-chan!"

"Nyah-nyah!" Vash stuck his tongue at Riku.

"I wouldn't say anything, because you're in the same boat, thanks to THIS!" He flashed it at Vash. It was a picture of when he was cuddling with Fiona in the medical center. Vash reddened furiously.

"H-how did you get that picture?"

"You thought I was going to let you get away with that? Fat chance!"

Makyura chuckled. "You guys just got owned!" Everyone turned to the ghost, giving him strange glances. Makyura sweat-dropped. "Did I say that out loud?" Everyone continued to stare at him. "Uhh…forget I said anything." Makyura sighed. _'Curse those two and their influential jargon.'_

Once everyone calmed down, Yuuki turned to Satoshi. "Sorry about that. Anyways, what can I do for ya?"

Satoshi scratched his head, unsure of how to start. "Um…you seemed really…off yesterday. Did something happen that you would want to talk about?"

Yuuki looked to his Pokémon who gave him an assured nod. "Well, me and Haruka just had a little talk and some things were cleared up. Nothing really wrong, I guess what she told me kind of took me by surprise. Don't worry yourself, I'm fine now." He assured, patting him on the shoulder.

"That's good to know. Would you want to hang out for a bit?"

"Sounds good! How about it you guys?" Yuuki turned to his Pokémon.

"Where shall we go?" Makyura asked.

"Hm…why don't we visit Haruka-chan and see what she's up to?" Yuuki suggested. Makyura floated over to him.

"Are you sure about that?" He whispered.

Yuuki nodded. "It's okay. I just need to get used to the idea, but I'll get over it no problem."

"If only you're sure…"

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Satoshi led them to Haruka's dorm.

Meanwhile, Haruka had just finished straightening up her room. Ever since her sisters were expelled, things had been a lot roomier, not to mention more peaceful. She was able to move inside their room and had extra space. Her old room did hold a lot of cherished memories though, like when Yuuki would sometimes come over and had fun trying out different spells, or even playing video games. Taking an overview look of her new and bigger room, she was quite pleased with the results. Now she just needed to find out what to do with her old one…

Just then, Normu opened the door slightly. "Is everything alright in there?"

"Yeah, I was just getting settled in my new room. Like it?"

Normu glanced about the room and nodded. "Yes, it is quite nice. Plenty of space and a bigger bed, life doesn't get better than this, right?" He ruffled her daughter's hair playfully.

"Right!" She looked up in thought. "But I wonder what I'm going to do with my old room…"

"I suppose it could be turned into a guest room…"

"A guest room…" Haruka suddenly came up with a brilliant idea! She explained it to her father. Needless to say, he was shocked.

"Are you serious? There's no way I can agree with that!"

"Please dad! You know the story! Come on, for me?" She pleaded, flashing her puppy dog eyes.

"…I'll talk it over with your mother. If she agrees, I'll go along with it."

"THANK YOU SO MUCH!" She nearly suffocated him with the bear hug.

"Hey, take it easy! This doesn't mean it's going to happen, but it will be talked over." There was a knock at the door. "Looks like we have guest. Haruka-chan, would you take care of it while I talk to your mother?"

"Sure!" Haruka left the room and headed to the front door. When she opened it, she was greeted by Yuuki and Satoshi. "Hey you guys! Come in!" She invited. The group was lead to her new room. Yuuki whistled after taking a glance.

"This place is awesome!" Yuuki back flipped onto the bed, bouncing happily.

"Don't jump on my bed like that!"

"Oh lighten up a bit. This is fun!" Yuuki continued to bounce on the bed. Haruka tried to get him off, only to end up wrestling with him on the bed. After a few minutes of fighting, they settled down, panting heavily. "Now that's what I call fun!"

"Yeah…" After catching her breath, she sat up on the bed. "So, why did you guys come here?"

"No real reason. Just came to see if you wanted to hang out." Yuuki answered.

"Sure," She agreed, "Where to?"

"How about my place?" Satoshi suggested.

"Okay." They all left the dorm and went back to Satoshi's dorm. When Satoshi opened the door, his brother immediately greeted him.

"Hey wonderful brother of mine! Got a minute?" Satoshi really didn't like the look in his eyes.

"Shigeru-niichan…what are you planning?"

"Nothing! Just come with me for a minute." Shigeru lured him away from Yuuki and Haruka, bringing him close enough to whisper. "I was hoping that we could strike a deal…"

Satoshi narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "What…kind of deal?"

"How would you like to go on a blind date?"

"Oh no! No way!" he denied. "I remember the last time you set me up with someone."

"Oh come on. She was nice…kinda…"

"SHE just happened to be a HE!"

"…True, but let's not dwell on the past. I guarantee you will be pleased with what I got in stored for you."

"…Kind of like what you had in store for me during my 16th birthday?"

"…Okay, so you didn't like that "special feature" that I made you watch…but some of your friends liked it…"

"Yeah…until one guy got a bit too excited…" Satoshi shuddered at the memory.

"This isn't like the last time. You know you want to go. Please?"

"Nope. I'm not going!"

Shigeru sighed and let go of him. "Oh well…I thought you would've liked a chance for free food, but since you don't want to go…"

That caught Satoshi's attention. "Free food?"

"Yep! All the rice, chicken, beef, and anything else you can imagine all at your mercy and all you had to do was agree to the blind date, but…"

"No wait! Um…after some consideration, I think I will take a chance with the date."

"Great! Here's your ticket!" Shigeru handed him the ticket.

Satoshi turned to a confused Haruka and Yuuki. "Hey you guys, me and Shigeru-niichan are going to go out later. Think you guys can watch the place when we leave?"

Haruka remembered the plan that her and Normu went over and grinned. "Sure thing!"

"Why not? I'm down with that." Yuuki shrugged. "I'll just hang around outside until you guys go out. Coming Haruka-chan?"

"Sure." She nodded. The two left the dorm to enjoy some fresh air while the two brothers went to their separate rooms to get ready.

After all was said and done, it was time to go to the restaurant. Shigeru, who was dressed in a fancy dark blue Haori, impatiently knocked on Satoshi's bedroom door. His hair was brushed neatly and he wore a black sash across his waist.

"Hey, it's almost time to go. Hurry up and come out already!"

"I am not coming out! I look stupid in this thing!" He complained.

"No he doesn't! He's just being a big baby!" Shigeru could hear Raigeki scolding him from behind the door. After some persuasion and threatening, Satoshi surrendered and opened the door. He was dressed in a red, silky Haori with dragon patterns on it and a red sash. His hair was slicked back into a neat pig tail and had a long bang of hair hang down his face. Shigeru had to admit, he looked really good.

"Looking good bro!" Shigeru gave him the thumbs up.

"This is stupid. Why can't I wear my normal clothes?"

Annoyed, Shigeru punched him in the back of the head. "This is a _fancy_ restaurant. You are supposed to look fancy, not like you just came from class. Now quit complaining and let's get going."

"Yeah, yeah..." Satoshi took out Zohl's pokéball and released him. "Hey Zohl-kun. Me and Shigeru-niichan is about to go out for awhile. Think you can help Haruka-chan and Yuuki-kun watch the place AND Raigeki-kun?"

"Sure, I'll keep watch for the time being." Zohl answered.

"Hey! Don't make me sound like an annoyance!" Raigeki pouted.

"No need. You do that by yourself."

"You want some of me bonehead?"

"Alright, that's enough of you two!" Satoshi reprimanded. "Shigeru's Pokémon are going to hang around for a bit as well. They're lounging around a bit, so you'll find them somewhere here." Just then, he heard a knock on the door. When he went to open it, he was met with none other than Yuuki and Haruka. "Alright, we're about to go, so you two just relax and make sure they don't break anything." He pointed to Raigeki and Zohl, who glared in response. "Anyway, see you guys later!" With that, Shigeru and Satoshi left the dorm, leaving Yuuki and Haruka to their own devices.

Yuuki stretched as he flopped on a couch. "So…what do you want to do?"

"I dunno…look around a bit?"

"Sure." He shrugged. Yuuki got up and searched around the Kitchen while Haruka searched elsewhere. While looking around, Yuuki noticed Shigeru's Pokémon lazing around in his room with Zohl. Absol lay on Shigeru's bed, looking out the window while Arcanine was resting on the carpet floor. The only Pokémon that were somewhat active were Zohl and Umbreon. Yuuki took out his three Pokéballs and released his three Pokémon. "You guys go ahead and make some friends while I while hang around here for a bit."

"Sure." Makyura complied, heading towards the other Pokémon. Vash and Riku followed shortly thereafter. The white haired ninja decided to continue his tour of the dorm, seeing that he had never been here that often.

While he was gone, Vash went to join Zohl and Umbreon by sitting next to them. "What's up?" He started casually.

"Hello Vash-kun." Zohl greeted.

"Hi!" The Umbreon greeted as well.

"Oh right, I should introduce myself. Where are my manners?" Vash about was to continue when Riku cut him off.

"The same place where your crappy pick up lines come from."

"Shove it where it hurts you nuisance!" The Scyther retorted angrily. "Anyway, I'm Vashuna, and you are…"

"Shadow." The Umbreon answered. "That lazy Arcanine over there is Django-kun, and the Absol is Kisaragi-kun.

"Hey, I resent that!" Django's statement was followed by a loud yawn. "I'm not lazy…I just don't like doing much…"

"That's the same thing!" Shadow's words fell on deaf ears. Django fell asleep on him! "Don't ignore me you moron!"

"Yeah, yeah…" Django grumbled, falling back asleep. Shadow decided for the better of his patience that he would let him rest.

"Anyway…what's up with Kisaragi-san? He looks depressed…" Vash noted the Absol looking out the window wistfully.

"Oh…he's always been like that. You see, Kisaragi-kun never had many friends, and often lived alone. You know what they say about Absols don't you?" Vash shook his head, urging Shadow to continue. "It's the reason they're called the _disaster_ Pokémon. Absols can detect when a disaster is about to happen. But because of its nature, they usually appear right when it happens. Because of this, humans say that they are cursed, so they scorn them. Kisaragi-kun's nature prevents him from trying to get to know people, so he shuts himself off from everyone else. But—"

"…He soon met us and Shigeru-kun." Django said.

Shadow raised an eyebrow. "When did you wake up?"

Django continued as though he wasn't interrupted. "He still feels disdain towards newcomers, but Shigeru-kun welcomed him with open arms at their first meeting. It took awhile, but he got used to us as well."

_'That reminds me a lot like…Yuuki-kun…'_ Vash thought. He watched the red eyed Absol sigh as he continued looking out the window, then sweat-dropped when Riku landed on his head. Kisaragi jumped in surprise, clearly not expecting such an action.

"Why are you so sad?" Riku asked.

Vash gave an annoyed groan. "Did you not just listen to what we were talking about a minute ago?"

"Could you get off? You are making me very uncomfortable…" Kisaragi requested calmly.

"I will if you tell me why you are sad."

"…I don't feel like telling you…"

"Why not—ACK!" Riku was knocked off Kisaragi's head courtesy of Vash's dull side of his blade.

"Can't you tell he doesn't want to talk to you?"

"Can't you tell how much of an annoying idiot you are?" Riku retorted.

"WHY YOU BLASTED BUG EYED TWIT! GET BACK HERE!" And the chase was on between Riku and Vash. Shadow sweat-dropped profusely.

"Do they do this all the time?"

"You have no idea…" Zohl and Makyura sighed.

Meanwhile, Haruka had been patrolling the apartment, making sure nothing was out of place. Raigeki jumped on Haruka's shoulder and whispered in her ear.

"Hey…do you want to see something cool?"

"What do you mean?" Haruka questioned.

"It's one of Satoshi-kun's books. He never told anyone this, but Satoshi-kun is actually a writer!"

Haruka was surprised. "Really?"

"Yep! He only made one book so far, but do you want to check it out?"

"Sure!" Haruka followed Raigeki to Satoshi's room. Inside, she was guided to Satoshi's drawer, which had a book inside it. Curious, she leafed through a few pages. First, she checked to see how far he had written, which wasn't much. It was only 3 pages. Something caught her eye though while flipping through the pages. What was her name doing in there? She read the latest page of the book.

_Dear Journal_

_4/4/15_

_Mood: winded, concerned_

_I haven't written in this book since the last few days. Well, let's recap. First, on Monday, it was the start of the first competition. As weird as it sounds, it was paintball. For some unknown reason, the teacher shot me in the head! I'm sure he did it for laughs, though the rest of the students didn't find it as such. Anyway, after the competition (which we ranked second place), my new friend and rival, Hiroshi, took us to his dad's hotel for a sleep over. It was great…until we played the sickest game I've ever heard of, truth or dare. My brother started off and made me massage Kasumi with no shirt! I'm so going to kill him the next chance I get! I had to admit though, it felt…I don't know…good, I guess. I could've sworn I felt her relax. Oh well, probably my imagination._

_It was my turn and I saw Yuuki laughing at my expense! Well I shut him up with an embarrassing question! I asked if he had a crush on anyone and he said yes. I knew the whole time that he had feelings for Haruka, and that confirmed it. Well, after a few turns, my other new friend, Takeshi, made Kasumi flirt with me! Well, she did so alright…and man was she good at it. I mean, she can be cute sometimes, but I would never want some flaming, mallet-wielding tomboy like that as a girlfriend. Anyway, moving on, Yuuki almost had his revenge when he told Kasumi to make out with me! I don't remember much after that…considering that I fainted._

_Skipping ahead, I have no clue why, but Haruka put a spell on me and Kasumi, which in turn made us linked to each other physically and mentally. It was the freakiest experience ever! We were both afflicted even during today's competition. Hayabusa-sensei had the insanely sick idea that handcuffing us would make things more interesting._

_Yeah, interesting…my behind!_

_The first match was Kasumi and I versus some other team. We were losing at first, but we managed to kick their butts hardcore! After that, we met some of the members of team Isuka and team Zeji. If that wasn't the strangest Romeo and Juliet story I've ever heard, I don't know what is! Anyway, Haruka and Yuuki were up next for the match against none other then team Rocket!_

_Our team was fighting a losing battle until Fiona (Haruka's Kirlia) evolved into a Gardevior and clinched the match in our favor. I'm not certain, but I think Vash (Yuuki's Scyther) and Fiona has feelings for each other, but are too proud to admit it. Gotta remind myself to check into that later. Anyway, during the finals, Kasumi was up against Takeshi. She managed to beat him in the most unusual way. She beat him by stripping. You heard right, stripping! I thought I was going to faint again when I saw her (note: She didn't reveal too much, thank the gods!). She has a great body, though I'll never tell her that, lest I want to die a horrible death. Yuuki went up against Duplica and lost. The poor guy seemed so depressed. Haruka was a little sad as well, but Yuuki was in such bad shape that it cost us a match._

_Then, it was Haruka versus Furuura. They were both really awesome out there. It was probably because of that the match ended up in a tie. Then, it was me versus Hiroshi, but before I tell you that get a load of this…you ready? Kasumi, the red headed tomboy who hates men KISSED ME! That surprised the heck out of me! I'm not going to lie; she has a great set of lips. Moving on, it was time for my final match and I won! I still can't believe it. I WON!_

_But, I found out something frightening about Kasumi. It's the main reason she hated men in general. You see, during the shadow raid incident, Kasumi's father went insane and killed her mother in a gruesome fashion! Kasumi then killed him before he could kill her. I was so shocked when I heard that. That was the most depressing thing I've ever heard. My heart goes out to her. She puts up a tough front, but really, she's sad and lonely. I…I want to help her as much as I can. To let her know that I care about her and want to help. Tonight, I'll tell her that we're all family, not just some team, and that family sticks together and is never alone. Well, I'm still exhausted so I'm gonna get a few hours of sleep before I go through with it. I'm going to see her midnight tonight about it. Wish me luck!_

_Signing off_

_Tajiri __Satoshi  
_

As Haruka finished reading the book, she realized it wasn't a story book she was reading, but Satoshi's…

"Hey, you guys! Haruka-chan is snooping around Satoshi-kun's personal stuff!" Raigeki yelled loudly, pointing at Haruka.

The said girl's jaw dropped. That conniving rat set her up on purpose! Fiona and Kiza saw her with the book and gaped, shocked.

"How could you do such a thing? Have you no respect for someone's privacy?" Fiona shook her head in shame.

"I never would've guessed you could be so shallow…" Kiza sighed.

"Wha…but…he…I didn't…" Haruka babbled incoherently. Raigeki was rolling with laughter, still pointing at Haruka.

"That was great! You should've seen the look on your face!" His laughter however, was cut short by the magical girl's murderous gaze.

"WHY YOU EVIL LITTLE VERMIN!"

"YIPE!" He barely avoided her fireball attack as he ran about the dorm, being chased by the enraged brunette.

Elsewhere with the Tajiri brothers, they had arrived at their designated spot in front of the restaurant. It had only been a bit over five minutes and Satoshi was already getting impatient, mainly since he didn't eat prior to arrival.

"I wish they would hurry up already." He complained.

"They will be here. Just be a little patient. It's only been five minutes." Shigeru couldn't help but wonder though. Sakura was the type to always be punctual. What could be keeping her? A few moments later, he saw a group of three coming towards them. He could easily recognize Sakura from her blonde hair and Kasumi who walked next to her. Sakura had on a light pink kimono and a small dark blue sash that was tied into a butterfly bow behind her. Her hair was wrapped in a messy bun and had a chopstick through it. Shigeru almost couldn't believe her eyes. She was absolutely gorgeous!

What ruin the moment was the guy who was next to her, Tazuma. He had short, neat green hair that hung right above his eyebrows. His black and white haori was tightened by his black sash. The man had a high and mighty air about him, and his calm, red eyes only aided in that aspect. Sakura ushered the other two to hurry up and catch up with them.

"Hey you guys!" Sakura waved. She whistled when she saw how they were dressed. "You guys look good!"

"Heh, you're not too shabby yourself!" Shigeru complimented.

"It's been awhile, Shigeru-kun." Tazuma greeted, extending his hand. His eyes betrayed his voice. He didn't enjoy seeing him again. As a matter of fact, neither did Shigeru. The said samurai gripped his hand firmly.

"Like wise, Tazuma-kun." They stared at each other for a few seconds, daring the opposition to start something.

Sakura sighed as she made space between them. "Alright macho heads, break it up!" Both men retracted their hands, but continued glaring.

"Can we hurry up and go inside already?" An annoyed voice requested.

"Wait a minute…" Satoshi's eyes widened when he recognized who that voice belonged to. "Kasumi-chan?" He glanced at her standing beside Sakura, and was stunned. Kasumi's lustrous hair was neatly brush and flowed with the gently breeze. She was endowed in a light blue kimono with pink flower patterns and a light blue belt around her waist. Satoshi tilted his head as he analyzed her. "…Kasumi-chan? Is that really you?"

Kasumi had a shocked look herself. The boy was very handsome! "Satoshi-kun?" They both continued to stare at each other, awestruck.

"Wow Kasumi-chan. I got to admit, you actually look like…a girl!" Satoshi joked.

_THWACK!_

"I always look like a girl, you moron!"

"Heh, could've fooled me…OW!" Satoshi clutched his head again, seething in pain.

"Don't they make the cutest couple?" Sakura cooed, causing Shigeru to snicker.

"A match made in heaven." Shigeru and Sakura stopped laughing when they caught Satoshi and Kasumi's glare.

"That was NOT funny!" They both growled.

"Say, why don't we go inside and eat." Tazuma suggested, interrupting.

"Food! Yes!" Satoshi was about to dash inside when Shigeru clutched the back of his collar.

"Don't you have any manners? Your date goes in front!"

He stared blankly at his brother before responding. "My…date? Oh right, my blind date! When is she going to be here?"

Everyone face-faulted. How dense can he be?

"YOU IDIOT! I'M YOUR DATE!" Kasumi screeched. To her surprise, Satoshi didn't flinch. He had a rather calm expression on his face.

"…No you're not. My brother isn't cruel enough to do such a thing to me, right Shigeru-niichan?" He turned to Shigeru, only to find him and the other two gone. "…Shigeru-niichan?" It took Satoshi a few moments to come to a startling conclusion. Shigeru really was cruel enough to do such a thing! Free food, no matter how hungry he was, wasn't worth risking his life over by dating that Amazoness man slayer! Before he could even think of running away, a hand gripped on his neck tightly.

"If you even consider running away or fainting on me, I'll crush you!" Kasumi threatened.

Well…at least there was free food…

"Okay, I get it! Let go!" Satoshi pleaded. The red head released his neck. "Does my neck look like a squeeze toy to everyone?" He asked no one in particular. But wait, she sounded as though she had already known she was going to date him. Did that mean… "Kasumi-chan, do you actually want to go on a date with me?"

"Heck no!" She paused for a few moments before slowly shifting her gaze. "Well…at least that what I thought at first, but after awhile, I was thinking. You are a pretty nice guy and always helped me out, especially like with last night. At that point, I knew that you were someone with a good heart, so I thought, maybe a date with you wouldn't be so bad, especially with a great friend like you…" When she turned back around, Satoshi was gone! She was trying to have a moment with him, and he left her! He was going down when she caught him! "SATOSHI!" She ran inside after him, intent on destroying him.

Inside the restaurant was a delicate and serene Japanese environment. Soft classical music played in the background. The multicolored walls had special pictures and patterns. The place was huge and able to house over 200 people at once. After checking in, the group headed over to the food section. The place was a buffet style restaurant, so they could get as much as wanted, much to Satoshi's pleasure. After getting their desired amount of food, they took a seat. Shigeru sat with Sakura and Tazuma, while Satoshi and Kasumi sat a few tables away from them.

"So Satoshi-kun," Kasumi started, "Are you excited about our final competition tomorrow?"

"You bet!" Satoshi nodded. "We have a really good chance since we did so well in the last two tests. There's no way we're going to lose! Believe it!"

Kasumi couldn't help but smile. The boy had so much energy and confidence in himself. Her expression turned suspicious when she saw him grinning widely. "What are you smiling about?"

"You know…you should do that more often…"

Needless to say, she was baffled. "Do what?"

"You are a lot cuter when you smile…"

"Um…t-thanks…" She said meekly. Those words repeated itself in her head. He thought that she was…cute? She had never received a compliment like that from any boy before. He sounded so sincere when he said it. Her gaze fell to the plate in front of her, pink tinting her cheeks.

Satoshi smirked. It was too cute how she was blushing like that. His amusement turned serious as he motioned Kasumi to lean in. "Hey, do you recognize anything familiar about that Tazuma guy?"

Kasumi shook her head. "No, do you know him?"

"Yeah, it happened about a month ago. Remember the arsonist incident?"

"Yeah…wait a second! Are you saying that he's—" Satoshi clasped his hand over her mouth before she continued.

"Don't do anything yet. My brother talked to me about that already…"

_Not too long ago, Shigeru and Satoshi were making there way to the restaurant when Shigeru started to talk to him. "Satoshi-kun, before we meet the others, there's something you have to know. It's about the guy we're about to meet, Tazuma."_

"_What about him?"_

"_Believe it or not, he is that same arsonist leader that we fought over a month ago."_

"_WHAT? We've got to tell Sakura-chan about this before he pulls something!"_

"_No…not yet, I want to see what his motives are for dating Sa-chan. If we act too recklessly, Sachan will protect him and label us as an enemy, which will make it harder for us. Let's just watch and wait, and if he tries anything, we will act. Whatever you do, do not act on your on accord; wait for my signal, alright?"_

"_Yeah, I get you. Just give me the word if you need me for anything."_

"…And that's the story. When he gives me his signal, we will strike, so don't worry. Besides, I think he wants to take him down more than we could imagine…"

With Shigeru, Sakura and Tazuma, they had been talking about various topics, ranging from reminiscing to current events. Shigeru and Tazuma were silent at times, but glared at each other when Sakura looked elsewhere. They sat in a half circle seat with Sakura and Tazuma sitting across from each other, and Shigeru in the middle. Shigeru knew Tazuma was up to something, but what could it be?

_CRASH!_

Everyone gasped and turned to the front door, watching a flood of people in dark cloaks rush in. They were being raided! Kasumi was about to get up and fight them when Satoshi grabbed her hand and shook his head.

"We didn't get the signal yet. Trust me; my brother knows what he's doing." He assured her. Kasumi hesitantly sat in her seat. One of the raiders was dressed in a blue cloak that was different from the other ones, indicating that he was the leader.

"Alright! Everyone stay where you are and don't move! This is a raid!" The leader barked.

Shigeru sighed inwardly. Today just wasn't his day.

* * *

Next chapter is going to be another big one. Review and tell me what ya think! The next one will surprise you (not to mention make you laugh).


	10. My saving grace

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon…crud, fresh out of witty comments…PSYCHE!

Warning: References to Naruto. (Which I do not own!)

* * *

"_Alright! Everyone stay where you are and don't move! This is a raid!" The leader barked._

_'Why now?' _Shigeru exasperated mentally. His eyes quickly scanned over the cloaked men, assessing the situation. These guys were clearly armed, but mainly with just swords. Their cloaks hid any guess of whether they had concealed weapons or not, making that a definite possibility. The robbers scattered throughout the room, keeping an eye on key escaping points.

Tazuma leaned towards Shigeru. "Look…you don't like me, and I sure as heck don't like you, but I think we both agree on trying to get Sakura-chan out of here before we do anything hasty. Agreed?"

"Yeah, a truce until we get out of this mess. I'll create a distraction while you two get out of here." Shigeru leaned towards Sakura. "Hey, I'm going to create a distraction while you and Tazuma-kun go outside and call for reinforcements. When the coast is clear, get out of here ASAP."

"But that's too dangerous. What if you get hurt?"

"Look, it's more important that you get out of here. Trust me; I won't go down without a fight."

Sakura hesitated, but gave him an affirmative nod. "Okay. Please, be careful." Tazuma and Sakura edged themselves to the edge of the seat discreetly, preparing to sprint. Shigeru caught Satoshi staring at him at the corner of his eyes. He had to hurry since two of the grunts were heading towards their direction. As concealed as possible, Shigeru gave Satoshi coded hand signals.

'_Distract them. Be subtle and don't make too big a scene unless necessary. I will give word when. Check my right foot for confirmation.'_

Satoshi gave him a nod. _'Okay.'_

Kasumi was impressed. The movements were so subtle, yet they could grasp every message perfectly. She reminded herself to ask him about that later. "Kasumi-chan, I got a plan but I need your help…" Satoshi began going over the plan with her…

With Shigeru and the rest, the two grunts approached them. "Hey, hand over your valuables, NOW!" One of the grunts demanded. Shigeru gave the command to Satoshi with his foot. What he saw next made him sweat-drop fiercely.

_CRASH!_

The table that Satoshi and Kasumi sat at was broken in half, thanks to Kasumi's fist. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN I HAVE NO TASTE?" She yelled loudly, catching everyone's attention.

"I MEANT EXACTLY WHAT I SAID! AMAZONS DON'T HAVE TASTE!" Satoshi screeched just as loudly.

Shigeru's jaw dropped. _'Idiot. You call that subtle?'_

One of the grunts came up to Satoshi from behind. "Hey, why don't you two be quiet and—"

_POW!_

The grunt flew over two tables before landing with a thud. Satoshi had ducked Kasumi's punch in the nick of time. "Nice one, but I don't think you're gonna win any contest with that wimpy swing! What are you…a _girl_?"Satoshi taunted.

_Jump kick!_

_BAM!_

Satoshi narrowly dodged that attack, only to have it land on the unfortunate grunt that was too close to the feuding duo. Two more grunts started towards them.

"I don't know what to be more afraid of, your pathetic punches, or your FACE!"

Multiple veins appeared on Kasumi's forehead. "GRRAAA!" She charged wildly at him, raising her fist. Satoshi quickly grabbed a nearby grunt and used him as a shield. The force of the punch sent both flying. Luckily for Satoshi, he landed on the second grunt, nullifying the damage to himself. With everyone's attention on the fight, Shigeru gave Sakura the green light to slip past the guards. Tazuma led Sakura by the hand. Shigeru could only hope that Satoshi and Kasumi could keep up the charade just awhile longer. Sakura and Tazuma were almost out the door when one of the grunts spotted them.

"Hey, where do you think you're—AAAHH!"

_WHAM!_

The grunt was knocked out by a flying body, courtesy of an outraged Kasumi. Taking no chances, the two escapees bolted out the restaurant. Now that they were gone, Shigeru could act and take down the rest of the bad guys…or so he thought.

_WHAM! THWACK! POW! BAM!_

Bodies wrapped in cloaks were flying everywhere. Any robber that was remotely close to Satoshi and Kasumi met with an unintentional beat down. 5 minutes later, the restaurant was a mess. Tables were broken and over turned. The unconscious bodies of the crooks littered the tables and floor. The innocent bystanders gawked in amazement and horror. That had to be the most abusive argument they had ever witnessed. It was a wonder that Satoshi was still breathing.

Both Kasumi and Satoshi were panting heavily, but still kept their eyes locked onto each other. Feeling that it was now safe, Shigeru got out from the hiding spot and came over to them.

"Um…you two were just supposed to just get their attention, not destroy the place. But I'll admit, you two were great actors, pretending to have an argument to distract them."

Kasumi and Satoshi gave him a confused stare. "We were supposed to cause a distraction?" Immediately, they remembered about the raiders and took on a guard position, only to be even more confused.

"Why are they knocked out? Did you fight them?" Satoshi asked. Shigeru face-faulted. They had completely forgotten about the situation!

"Anyway…I need you two to clean up here while I go find Sa-chan." Without missing a beat, Shigeru darted towards Sakura's house.

With the said girl, she had just made it back to the house with Tazuma. She dug her hands in her pockets, rummaging it for her keys. When found, she put it in the door and unlocked it. "Alright, I'm going to call the school security guards to secure the location. You sit tight for awhile." When Sakura turned to go inside…

_TWHACK!_

When Shigeru arrived at Sakura's apartment moments later, he found the door unlocked. This was a bad sign. The place was a mess. He heard the sound of rummaging deeper within the apartment.

"AHA! I finally found it!" A voice exclaimed.

'_That voice…I knew it!'_ Shigeru quickly darted to the source, only to discover Tazuma holding a silver rock in his hands. Sakura laid on the floor, unconscious. "What did you do to her?"

"Oh, her? I've just given her the night off. But please tell me, how did you figure it out?"

"It was easy. First off, I knew that you couldn't be trusted, given the fact that you were slime from the start. Secondly, you had way too calm of an attitude when they came it, almost as if you staged that whole thing. Last, but not least, even though they covered the main escape points of the restaurant, they purposely let you slip under them. It was easy to tell since they kept their sights on everyone else except you. I noticed it."

"Ah, very perceptive of you, but alas, you are too late. I finally got my hands on the moonstone."

"The moonstone?"

Tazuma grinned mischievously. "Oh, so there is something that the great Shigeru-kun doesn't know? Fine, I'll tell you. With this stone, the abilities of a Pokémon can be amplified to almost limitless heights when applied properly. But also, this can be used by humans. My fathers plans can be fully realized when he obtains this stone."

"Wait…father? You don't mean…"

"That's right, my father Saito-otousan. You've probably heard about him."

"Tch, how could I not? Everyone knows about what he did 10 years ago. How his lust for the power of the forbidden items resulted in the shadow raid. How could you work for a guy who nearly destroyed this school?"

"Don't be a fool. He's my father, a man of greatness and prestige. He could've made great things happen if the foolish teachers would only recognize his prominence in this school."

"Hah, don't make me laugh. I've heard about the _great_ Saito-sensei. The only thing about him was that he was a mad man who would do anything to get his greedy hands on the items."

_THWAP!_

"Agh!" Shigeru held his cheek which got punched by Tazuma.

"Don't you DARE talk about father that way you vile insect! I will destroy all those that oppose him!" Tazuma put the stone in his pocket and stood in a fighter's pose. "If you move out of the way, I will spare you. I am not the same weakling you fought a month ago."

"Hmph! We'll see about that!" Shigeru had his left arm cocked horizontally and his right one going upward diagonally. His foot shifted back and his hands were flat instead of clenched. Tazuma recognized that style instantly.

_'Ah, so he's going to use the hurricane fist style. He makes constant movements while spinning around the opponent at a fast pace, thereby confusing them. He won't catch me with such a mediocre technique.'_ Tazuma changed his pose so that his arms made an "X" formation and his hands were shaped like claws. _'Heh, my tiger style technique will claw him to death in an instant!' _Tazuma ran at him swiftly.

_SLASH!_

Shigeru barely dodged that claw strike. Tazuma clawed through the wall! If he wasn't careful, Tazuma could cut him in half. The apartment was not fit for Shigeru's style of combat. He had to lure him away. Jumping and dodging, Shigeru carefully led him outside the apartment. Tazuma was definitely a lot stronger than before. This was going to be a tough battle.

It took a few minutes, but Shigeru successfully lured him outside. Now he could use his technique to its full potential. Shigeru leapt in the air and spun wildly at him. "Hurricane kick!" Tazuma jumped back at the nick of time, avoiding the skull splitting kick. When Shigeru landed, he dashed towards Tazuma. The green haired villain took a guard pose, but Shigeru jumped over him. When Tazuma glanced back, he noticed that Shigeru was right behind him. He tried to get him, only to end up spinning in a circle. After a third revolution, Tazuma stepped forward to get away, only to get kicked down by Shigeru.

Tazuma placed his hands on the floor and bounced himself back on his feet. He had to act quickly if he wanted to avoid Shigeru's twirling madness. Shigeru performed a rolling kick at him, only to miss. Tazuma had no choice but to stay in the defensive until he could find an opening. _'Just awhile longer…' _Tazuma thought, dodging his spin kicks and punches.

Suddenly, Shigeru stopped in his tracks. He fell to the ground, clutching his chest in pain. What was going on? His entire body was in intense pain and his head felt like it was going to explode. "What…did you do to me?"

Tazuma's lips curled into an evil grin. "It should be obvious. At the restaurant, I put a special toxin in your food. It took some time, but while you were dancing around like a fool just now, the poison spread throughout your body. It will continue to drain your life away until you lose all your strength and die." He cracked his knuckles as he approached the fallen Shigeru. _'I'm going to have some fun with you before you die…hehehehe…'_

Shigeru clenched his teeth angrily. _'Damn….I was too careless…'_

Inside the apartment, Sakura stirred awake. "Huh? What happened…" That was when she remembered trying to open the door, but everything else was blank. What could've happened? She gasped as she observed her dorm. It was trashed! Wait…was that a scream? It came from outside and sounded a lot like… "Shigeru!" She jumped up and quickly ran outside.

Outside, Tazuma repeatedly stomped on Shigeru, causing him great pain. "Writhe in pain like the insect you are!"

"GAH!" Shigeru was getting weaker and weaker by the second. If he didn't do something, he would die!

"Feh, I had enough of these games, time for me to put you out of your misery!" Tazuma gripped Shigeru's throat and lifted him up. He was going to choke him to death! "It will all be over soon…just stay quiet and—"

_POW!_

"ARG!" Tazuma stumbled back and dropped Shigeru. He cursed inwardly when he recognized the attacker. "Had a nice nap Sakura-chan?" He scoffed.

"It's impossible with all the racket you two are making, but I'll fix that!" With extreme speed, she ran up and did a leaping uppercut on him. Before he could land, she leapt up to his height and performed a 4 hit combo before grabbing his face and slamming him into the earth. Tazuma was winded, but managed to recover before getting hit again.

"Not bad, you caught me off guard with that one, but I will not make that same mistake again!" He took on the tiger style pose and came at her swiftly. Sakura, being a black belt Class A fighter, knew how to counter his technique. She dash at him, and with one hand grasped his front forearm, thereby locking his arms and making him temporarily immobile. With one powerful punch, she struck his solar plexus, knocking the wind out of him. She finished it off with a spin kick to the face. Tazuma bounced along the ground like a ball, only to be slammed into a tree.

_'Crap…' _Tazuma cursed mentally. Being a swordsman, he couldn't stand a chance against her without his sword. He was in a tight situation...

Meanwhile, Yuuki had just finished cleaning up the mess Vash and Riku caused, thanks to their constant bickering. While resting, Yuuki suddenly clutched his head in pain. It felt like someone had stabbed him in the head with a hot poker. _'Curses…not now…'_

Haruka noticed the pain look in his face and was immediately worried. "Hey, are you alright?"

"Uh…yeah, I just need some fresh air. I'll be back…" With that, Yuuki started for the door, stumbling a little here and there. Haruka didn't like the look on his face. It looked like he was in extreme pain.

A few minutes after, the battle between Sakura and Tazuma was getting more and more one sided. Tazuma, who was bloody and bruised, was outmatched. Soon, he heard cries from a distance. It was Satoshi and Kasumi's voices. _'Damn it to hell! I have no choice! I got what I came here for anyway.'_ He quickly pulled out a smoke bomb from inside his Haori and tossed it at the ground.

_POOF!_

"Agh!" Sakura covered her eyes from the small explosion. When the smoke cleared, Tazuma was gone.

"Hey, Sakura-chan!" Satoshi called, catching up to her.

"You two are a bit late. He got away." Sakura glanced at the fallen Shigeru and gasped. Without a second thought, she ran to Shigeru's side. He seemed to be still alive, but unconscious. His face was contorted in pain…almost as if… "You guys! Shigeru-kun has been poisoned! Let's get him to my apartment quickly!"

"Shouldn't we call the medical staff?" Satoshi pondered.

"There's no time! If we don't treat him now, he'll die!"

"WHAT?" Satoshi lifted Shigeru up and took him inside the apartment. Sakura and Kasumi followed closely behind.

With Tazuma, he managed to get a safe distance from Sakura and the rest of her group. When he felt that it was safe, he slowed to a stop and pulled out the moonstone. "At last! With this, my father's plans will be realized!" His merriment was cut short when he sensed someone nearby. "Whose there?" His eyes darted all over the place, but he could see no one. He froze wide eyed when he heard a demonic hiss…from behind…

"Ah…my first prey of the night…" The figure's lips curled into a sinister smirk. "I'm going to enjoy watching you writhe in pain…kukukuku…"

Tazuma started to sweat fearfully. This was not good…

Inside the Yawa apartment, Sakura worked tirelessly on healing Shigeru's wounds and removing the poison. Luckily, she had been paying attention during the medical portion of her past classes, so she knew what she was doing. It took some time, but Shigeru managed to get stabilized. He slowly opened his blue eyes, only to be greeted soft, caring teal ones. "Sa…Sa-chan?" Sakura placed her index finger over his lips.

"Shh…don't talk. I've managed to remove the poison, but you are still too weak. Just relax…"

"Um…t-thanks…" He muttered weakly. "Oh wait…Tazuma stole your moonstone. You should go after him before he gets away…"

Sakura shook her head. "Don't worry about that loser. Your health is more important than some little rock."

"But…but…"

"No buts mister! I'm staying here by your side and that's final."

"Err...sure. Where are Sato-kun and Kasumi-chan?"

"They're out in the living room cleaning up. You and Tazuma made a huge mess." She glared dangerously at him. "You, mister I-love-wrecking-people's-houses, is going to have to pay me back for destroying my apartment! Not to mention saving your life."

Shigeru swallowed hard. Her gaze was frightening. "H-how can I pay you back?"

Sakura looked up thoughtfully before coming to her conclusion. "_Angels can only fly with both wings_."

"Wait…that's the same quote you told me many months ago…"

"Right, and that's how you are going to pay me back!" For the first time in Shigeru's life, he was confused. Sakura could only sigh hopelessly. He could be as dense as his brother sometimes… "What I mean is…starting as soon as you recover…you are going to be my other wing…my one winged angel…" She winked.

Shigeru grinned widely. "Alright, I accept those terms."

"I'm glad you agree, because when we go out this Saturday, you are paying for everything." She giggled as Shigeru's jaw dropped in shock.

"What? You can't do that! That's not fair!"

"Hmph! Well you should have thought of that while you were fighting Tazuma!"

Shigeru's mouth continued to hang open; speechless…until Sakura nearly doubled over from laughing so hard. "Hey, that wasn't funny!"

"Oh relax; I was just messing with you." Shigeru released a sigh of relief. "But you still have to pay for everything." Shigeru face-faulted. He was about to make a comment when she pressed her index finger over his lips. "Don't worry though. I'll be sure to award you…properly…" She started to lean in towards him slowly. They closed their eyes and parted their lips. Their advances continued until…-_Ding dong_!-…the door bell rang. They both face-faulted.

_'Oh well, another time I guess.'_ They both thought. They heard Satoshi and Kasumi answer the door. After a few minutes, the door opened, and there stood Yuuki, holding the moonstone!

"Hey you guys. I think this belongs to you." He handed Sakura the moonstone. Both Sakura and Shigeru were flabbergasted.

"How did you get it back?" Sakura asked.

"Well, when I went outside for a walk, I came past a green haired man holding this item. We had a little talk and he kindly told me that he stole this from you and gave it to me to return."

Shigeru raised an eyebrow. That just wasn't possible. Tazuma looked like he would kill to get his hands on that stone. There was no way he would just _give_ back the stone in a friendly manner. What did he do to him? Wait…what was that smell? His sense of smell was powerful, so no one else but him could've caught such a faint scent. It was a strong, metallic smell…! Shigeru's eyes widened when he recognized it.

It was blood!

Just what did he do to Tazuma?

Sakura noticed his surprised expression. "Is something wrong Shi-kun?"

"Oh, no, nothing's wrong. I'm fine." He decided to discard his radical thoughts. The last thing he wanted was to be suspicious of Yuuki. "Anyway, thanks for getting that back for her, Yuuki-kun."

"Hey, it's no big deal. I just happened to be in the neighborhood. But anyway, with you guys back, I'm going to head to my apartment. I'll see you guys later." He waved goodbye as he started back home.

Because of Shigeru's injuries, he had to stay over night at Sakura's apartment. Fortunately, he and Sakura managed to _catch up_ on a lot of things. Kasumi was going to stay at Satoshi's apartment since Shigeru wasn't going to be there tonight, but as she had clearly warned him: "If you try anything while I'm asleep, I'll single handedly turn you into a woman!" Needless to say, Satoshi got the point to make sure she had a LOT of privacy. Haruka had already left for home, so that left them by themselves.

Just as they finished getting ready for bed, they heard a series of frantic knocks on the door. Satoshi answered the door, only to be greeted by a panic stricken Yuuki! "You guys! Something terrible has happened!"

"What happened?" Satoshi asked worriedly.

"I don't know why, but I got evicted from my apartment!"

"What?"

"What am I going to do? Where am I going to live?" Satoshi grabbed Yuuki's shoulders and shook him lightly.

"Calm down! I'm sure there's some reason behind it. Let's visit Haruka-chan. Maybe she knows what happened."

"Yeah…you're right…I must calm down." Yuuki took a deep breath to calm his nerves. After settling down, he, along with Satoshi and Kasumi, headed over their mage's apartment.

The said girl sat on her bed patiently, awaiting the knocks that would soon be pounding on her door. She was ecstatic when her parents agreed with her on the plan and got started on it immediately. It was only a few minutes until she heard the knocks on her door. When she opened it, she couldn't hold back a smile. "Hi guys!" She greeted cheerily.

"Haruka-chan, something terrible has happened! I—"

"…Got evicted?" She finished for Yuuki.

"Yeah…how did you know?"

"I sort of guessed. Anyway, you came at a great time, because I have a surprise for you."

"Hm?" Yuuki's confusion was answered by the greeting of three very familiar Pokémon coming out of Haruka's old room. "What are you guys doing here?"

"Hey Yuuki-kun! You gotta come and see this!" Vash got behind him and started pushing him towards the old room.

"Hey, slow down! What is it that you have got…to…show…me…" His eyed widened. All of his belongings were neatly placed in the room. His laptop was on the desktop of the book shelf and his book was placed on top of his bed. "Wha? But…how did my stuff get in your old room?" He asked Haruka.

She poked at his chest. "You mean YOUR new room!" She corrected. When Yuuki found his voice again, he spoke up.

"How did you do it though? I thought you needed my consent!"

"Heh, well, when you went on your walk, my dad stopped by to get you to sign the papers and surprise you. But…since you wasn't there, I knew you wouldn't mind."

Yuuki's jaw dropped. "Y-y-y-you forged my signature?"

"Go Haruka-chan!" Kasumi praised.

Satoshi shot her a look. "You don't praise people for forging signatures! What's wrong with you?"

"Oh lighten up!" She patted Satoshi on his back. "It was for a good cause!"

"Good cause my foot! Doing stuff like that is illegal!"

"Put a sock in it mister goody two-shoes!"

"You guys, quit it! This is supposed to be a good occasion, not a brawl!" Haruka pleaded.

Yuuki, however, was still trying to process this new development. He, as in Odamaki Yuuki, was going to be under the same roof as Momiji Haruka. The same Haruka he had fallen for would always be within arms length of reach of him. But this is also the same Haruka that had fallen for Satoshi. While processing all this new information, he failed to respond to his worried friends.

"Hello! Anyway home?" Haruka waved her hand in front of his dulled eyes repeatedly.

"Poor Yuuki-kun…the news must've been such a big shock that he fainted while standing." Satoshi guessed.

"I can't believe he pulled a _Satoshi-kun _on us." Kasumi mused.

"Hey!" Satoshi glared.

"Ooooh, nice comeback. I'm shaking in me boots!" She teased.

"Grr…"

"Wow, an even better comeback! You get smarter even time you open your mouth!"

Haruka stepped between the both, separating them. "Would you two stop already? We should get Yuuki-kun to bed before he falls…or something."

"Or pulls off another Satoshi-kun on us!" Kasumi snorted. Aggravating Satoshi was fun!

"Would you stop naming things after me?" Satoshi exasperated.

With a deep sigh, Haruka walked towards a spaced out Yuuki. "Yuuki-kun…oh Yuuki-kun…" Satoshi and Kasumi sweat-dropped when Haruka started slapping his cheeks repeatedly. "WAKE UP ALREADY!"

"Ha-ru-ka-chan-please-stop-slap-ing-me!" Yuuki cried between slaps. When Haruka's barrage of slaps ended, his eyes got a dizzied look as he fell backwards on the floor, unconscious.

"Nice one Haruka-chan. That's the third Satoshi-kun of the day!" Kasumi quipped sardonically. She burst into a fit of giggles after catching Satoshi's irritated expression.

"You better sleep with one eye open!" Satoshi threatened.

Kasumi eyed him playfully. "Or what, you'll pull off a Satoshi-kun on me?" She continued to laugh at his expense while she ended up being chased by him. Haruka could still hear them in the distance.

"I told you to stop naming things after me! It's getting old!"

"Not as old as you look!"

"Get back here!"

"Nyah nyah!"

Haruka blinked twice. That was…weird. Since when did Kasumi get all friendly with Satoshi? Even though it was odd, they did seem to be getting along better. Did this have something to do with Satoshi's declaration in his journal? Just what could've happened that could make them be so much closer? No…she had to relax. The last thing she wanted was to be jealous of Kasumi. Didn't she say she hated men anyway?

Haruka's thoughts were interrupted by a tap on her shoulder. "Um…Haruka-chan? I know you're busy thinking, but I don't think Yuuki-kun should be sleeping on the ground like that…" Vash gestured the unconscious ninja with a dazed look in his eyes.

"Huh? Oh, right!" temporarily putting her brooding on hold, she carried Yuuki, with Vash's help, towards his new bed and tucked him in. Yuuki was snoring softly as he turned to his side, some of his white hair covering his face. Haruka managed to stifle a giggle. He looked so cute while sleep, like a baby. It was a sight that she couldn't help but gaze at for a few moments. It never did occur to her how cute he could look sometimes. He had a young, happy, adorable face. How come she never noticed this before?

"You know…" Vash started, speaking seriously. "I think this is the first time he had a bed for himself. He always slept on the floor at his previous house, but never did he look so peaceful..."

"Yeah. That was a really kind of you Haruka-chan." Riku smiled. Vash and Riku stared expectantly at the eerily quiet Makyura.

"I'll pass on the fluffy comments." The ghost waved off. "But I do wonder…what made you decide to have him stay at your residence?"

Haruka looked up in thought. "Well…while deciding on what to do with my old room, I thought about the time that I saw Yuuki's house for the first time. It was so sad to see such a great guy living in such a terrible way. I decided right then and there that I would help him out, at least to thank him for all he's done. He never did talk about himself much. I don't see anything regarding his parents, siblings, friends, or anything of that nature. I wonder what happened to them…"

"You didn't know? Yuuki's family is—" Makyura got cut off by two frantic bug Pokémon covering his mouth.

"You idiot! What are you doing?" They hissed quietly so Haruka wouldn't hear them.

Makyura took their hands off his mouth. "I'm telling her about his family. What's wrong with that?" He whispered back.

"You fool! You're about to ruin Yuuki-kun's big chance!" Vash reprimanded. Makyura was confused.

"What are you talking about?"

"Don't you watch anime? This is how it goes: Guy talks to girl. Guy spills his heart out to girl. Guy gets lucky! Everyone knows that!"

Makyura gave them a blank stare. "Didn't we already establish that Haruka-chan has feelings for Satoshi-kun?"

"We know; that's why you can't say anything!" They both exclaimed. If Makyura wasn't confused before, he surely was now.

"You two are not making any sense."

Vash groaned. "Gah, it's not friggin rocket science! It's simple math! Here, let me show you!" He and Riku pulled out a large, cutely hand drawn diagram. "It's like this: Yuuki-kun, by the exponent of a secret, plus Haruka-chan, equals curiosity! Haruka-chan, times curiosity, represented by this parenthesis, plus Yuuki-kun, minus the square root of any distraction, namely Satoshi-kun, equals heart spillage! Then, Haruka-chan's heart warming nature times Yuuki-kun's confession will become greater than the circumference of any dumb crush Haruka-chan has for Satoshi-kun! All of which equals to Haruka-chan falling for Yuuki-kun, resulting in Yuuki-kun scoring! See? Simply awesome."

Makyura, who had long since face-faulted, gawked oddly at them. "You call that simple math? Wait a minute…WHERE THE HELL DID CIRCUMFERENCE COME FROM?"

"…Oh right, we didn't show you that part of the math. It should be here somewhere…" Riku started rummaging through their _cleverly_ made picture slides.

"That will not be necessary!" Makyura said quickly, not wanting another useless slideshow.

"Oh…would you like to see our work then?"

"NO!" Makyura sweat-dropped, massively. "How long did it take for you two to come up with this…plan?"

"Um…6 hours…subtract 5 hours, 59 minutes and 30 seconds of research that was put into this. You know…that new anime channel is awesome." Vash turned to Riku, excited. "Dude, did you see that one chick who digs Naruto?"

"Ooh, ooh, you mean Hinata? Dude, she is so hot! Those eyes are like, so freaky though! Especially with that one thing she does!"

"Dude, they have SO got to get together! They are like the coolest couple ever!"

"YES! NARUTO AND HINATA FOREVER!" They both gave each other a high five. "Even though I must say, in that last episode, Naruto got his butt handed to him on a silver platter by that one dude!"

"You mean Sasuke? What are you talking about? Naruto was the one kicking his butt!"

"You must be getting senile or something cause Naruto was getting owned!"

"Nah-uh! Naruto was moping the floor with him! That one jutsu move rocks!"

"Oh puh-lease, that move was so stupid! Naruto should just give up and bow before the great and million-times-cooler-than-Naruto-could-ever-be Sasuke Uchiha!"

"There's no way that little weird eyed punk could ever—"

"YOU TWO ARE COMPLETE MORONS!" Makyura roared furiously, surprising them. "Do you two do anything productive besides watching some stupid anime show?" The two scratched the back of their heads bashfully. "…Besides…Kakashi owns all…" He added under his breath. Unfortunately for him, the other two heard him, resulting in a huge argument. Haruka had long since gone, not seeing any reason of being around the crazy trio.

_THWACK!_

"OW!" All three Pokémon hissed, clutching their throbbing heads. An aggravated Yuuki crouched over them with his fist clenched. "Just what do you think you guys are doing so late at night?"

"Yuuki-kun, you're awake!" They gasped.

"Who could still sleep after all of that commotion you three were making?" Yuuki sat on the floor, releasing a deep sign. "Were you three conspiring against me…again?"

"No…that was going to be next week when we—OW!" Vash clutched his head after Riku smacked it.

"Don't tell him about our plans you imbecile!"

"Um guys…I am right here you know…" Yuuki reminded, slightly irritated. "Anyway, what's with the ruckus?"

"It's our special plans for you and Haruka-chan. It ain't over yet until the fat lady sings!" Vash said.

"Yeah, so please don't sing for us Vash." Riku snickered.

"Let's not start a fight so late at night." Makyura turned to Yuuki. "It is nothing you need to worry about as of now. Don't you have a competition tomorrow? You should rest up for it."

"Yeah…but I can't sleep…" Yuuki got up and flopped on his new bed. The Pokémon joined him.

"Why can't you sleep?"

"Well…I guess I'm just a bit…tense. I mean, I am _living _in Haruka-chan's apartment after all."

"I thought humans did stuff like that all the time?" Riku pondered.

"Yeah they do, but doesn't that normally implicate something?" Vash thought.

"Mathisu-sensei once told me about people who live together, such as him and his wife. He never told me what they do exactly, but he said that they lived together since they enjoyed each other's company so much. But…what does this mean for me and Haruka-chan? This whole thing just confuses to heck out of me." An interesting thought occurred to Yuuki. "Say…has any of you guys…been in love before?" All the Pokemon went into deep thought. That was a very interesting question.

"Well, I've flirted, but I can't say that I've been in love before...or know what it feels like for that matter…" Vash answered. "We all know Riku's in love, but I wonder…" Everyone's attention turned to Makyura, who whistled a nameless tune while looking away. "Oh Makyura…"

"The answer is no."

"But I haven't asked the question yet. Come on, you just gotta tell us! We all know Yuuki-kun and Riku-kun's story, but you've never talked about yourself."

"…"

"Come on Makyura-kun. Tell us something about yourself. Like for one, what is it like being a ghost?" Yuuki pressed, truly curious.

Makyura really wasn't the social type, but the peer pressure was getting annoying. "Fine, I'll tell you. First, being a ghost isn't as spectacular as you would like to think. Each Shedinja was a Nincada or Ninjask in his or her previous life. Whenever a Nincada evolves, they are assigned a Shedinja to watch over them. I suppose you can say that I am Riku-kun's brother…though I wish it were otherwise. And as for love…it happened a very long time ago. I was a Ninjask back then, just brimming with energy. I was a troublemaker back then, always giving my subordinates a hard time…"

"Yeah, a lot like a _certain_ pest we all know…" Vash hinted, catching Riku's glare.

"Anyway…at one point, I had wandered away from my human partner and got lost in a forest. As I searched about the foreign terrain, I sensed a presence nearby. Thinking that it was my trainer, I headed off in that direction. When I arrived, I found that a female Beautifly that was being attacked by her own, abusive trainer. Furious, I attacked the abuser and chased him away. The Beautifly was badly injured and bleeding badly. I did not wish to see her die, since my previous trainer taught me that every life is precious, thus should not be wasted. There wasn't a healing station anywhere nearby, and my trainer wasn't around, so I had to take matters in my own hands.

I've searched for over a half an hour for anything that would help. I managed to find some berries and healing leaves that would aid in her recovery. It took over an hour, but she had regained consciousness. She had such timid and fearful eyes. It suddenly became obvious to me that she had never received kindness like that before, and it was a new experience to her. When she asked me why I saved her, I merely told her that a life is a life, and all should be savored and saved. I attempted to calm her down, but she was afraid of me. The poor creature had no where else to go, and was lost and alone. Afraid of me or not, I wasn't going to let her stay in such a state for long. It took over a full day, but I managed to at least get as far as a friendly conversation. She explained to me that her trainer was like that to all of her Pokémon, but because she was deemed the weakest, she was targeted the most. I replied that not all trainers are such. My trainer was very kind hearted and gifted. He had a heart of gold that could never lose its luster. I promised her that as soon as we found my trainer, I would see if she would be allowed to join our group, considering that we had one free spot left. That was the first time I saw her smile. It was as though a celestial presence graced her smile with luminescence and purity. It was the kind of smile that would always have me following in her example. When I asked her name, she told me that it was Grace, and I thought it suited her perfectly...

During the night, we managed to gather a decent supply of food. We both ate happily until there was only one apple left. We reached for it at the same time, only to have our paws touch each others. We both withdrew our hands swiftly, embarrassed by such an action. She offered me the apple, and I graciously accepted. Before I took a bite, I couldn't help but steal a glance at her big, blue eyes. Though she didn't say it, her eyes screamed hunger, as did her stomach moments later. It was a humorous moment to say the least. I broke the apple in half and gave it to her. We both ate and slept soundly under the stars, seeing that it was too dangerous to go out during the night.

2 days passed by and we still haven't found any signs of my trainer. Although I was somewhat homesick, I couldn't help but feel…happy. I was in the company of Grace-san. She was very timid and quiet, but had such an adorable smile. It's funny when I think about, because no matter where I went, Grace-san clung onto me like a helpless child. It felt…wonderful. I felt like I had more strength and determination just by her mere presence, but it was slightly embarrassing. How many bug Pokémon do you see fly in such a haphazard way? But moving on, we both heard a voice crying for help. I couldn't make out the voice, but Grace-san and I rushed to the scene, praying to the gods that the trainer would be alright. When we arrived, my blood ran cold. I recognized the trainer that was being swept away by the rushing currents of the river.

It was the abusive trainer that hurt Grace-san!

For a moment, I hesitated to help him. There was no way I should help such a vile being that would harm one of his allies. The trainer cried out to us, pleading for forgiveness. I said nothing as I watched him continue to be carried away. Grace-san, however, started after him, trying to save the very person that injured her! Before I could have any say in the manner, she used her string shot attack on a tree and grabbed onto the trainer's hand. I assisted by helping her have extra strength. The trainer managed to reach the shoreline safely, but in a haste to get out of the killer river knocked Grace into the water! He didn't even remotely care what happened to her! I was knocked off her, but her wing got caught in the water, disabling her ability to fly. I yelled obscenities that I dare not to repeat at the trainer in my tongue, though he couldn't understand clearly, he waved off my comments, saying that _she traded her life for his_. That was the first time in my life that I had killing intent, but I couldn't be deterred by such an uncaring fool. I had an objective which took priority over his life, and even my own…

It was to save Grace-san!

Using the fullest extent of my speed, I rushed towards the _damsel in distress_ as some of you would say. In the distance, I saw that she was heading towards a waterfall. I had to act fast or she would surely perish! I could hear her cries for assistance as I pushed myself well beyond my own limitations in order to rescue her. In that moment, nothing else mattered to me. My mind was blank. There was only one thing I had in mind. It was the one inspiration that gave me whatever hidden strength I had.

It was her.

The burning image she had engraved in my mind. Her smile, her scent, the ever so few days we had spent together, it fueled my adrenaline to the max. I managed to grab her paw and attempted to pull her out. The edge of the waterfall was only a few measly yards away, so I had to hurry. With will that I've yet to experience again, I successfully pulled her out of the water…only to, in sheer irony, get my wing caught in the water. With the last of my strength, I tossed her high in the air so that she could escape the clutches of the deadly water. I knew I was going to die, but I felt that I could do it with a smile, knowing that she would be safe. The end of my life drew near as I began to decent towards my water grave. While falling down, I closed my eyes, knowing that there was nothing I could do but picture that beautiful image of her smiling face in my head one last time…

Suddenly, there was a strange substance that latched onto me. My eyes snapped open as I searched around to determine its source. It was a string shot, and it came from my…saving Grace. My eyes flashed with admiration. She was risking her life to save me! Never did I feel more honored. However, even she was too weak and soon, we both succumbed to the waterfall.

Sometime later, I regained consciousness. My first thought was bewilderment. How could I still be alive? After confirming that I had yet to ascend to the afterlife, I searched for any whereabouts of my saving Grace. Who I saw, however, wasn't her, but someone completely unexpected.

It was my trainer!

I tried to move, but my body had too much sea water inside. My stomach turned at the realization.

I was going to die soon...

I wasn't worried about that though, I had to see if Grace-san was at least alright. In my language, I tried to ask my trainer of her whereabouts. He seemed to understand…but turned his gaze despairingly. My blood froze ice solid as I saw an unmoving figure a few feet across from me.

Grace-san…my Grace-san…had died…

Never in my life had I felt so empty.

I made one final request to my trainer. The bond we shared was great, so great that he was able to understand me. He carried my limp body towards Grace and laid me next to her. With my final ounce of strength, I grabbed her limp paw and held it in my own. At least…I would soon be where she had gone soon…hopefully. That was the last thing I remembered before passing on…

For many years while residing in the spirit realm, I searched for her, but I had failed to find her. All I can do, even now, is hope that she has found peace elsewhere. My only regret, was that I didn't tell her my feelings before our fateful demise..."

Yuuki and Riku were torn up from the tear-jerking tale, as were their box of tissues. "I never knew you went through such a tragic life." Yuuki cried.

"I know…we could make so much money if only he would host a Spanish soap opera." Riku said.

_THWAP!_

"Would you be serious for once?" Yuuki chided after slapping him behind the head. Vash was silent. During the entire tale, Vash had a laser like focus on Makyura, taking in every word, and even the tone of his voice as he spoke. It was so full of emotion and feeling. Yuuki had never seen Vash look so serious before.

"Vash-kun?" Yuuki called. He didn't seem to respond, seeing that he was in deep thought.

"Makyura-kun…is that, what love really feels like? Is that what it is?" Vash asked slowly, but seriously.

"Yes and no. For me, that is what love was, but it might be different. Love isn't something that can be clearly defined, but when the time comes, you will be able to grasp the concept completely. Why do you ask?"

"I ask because…because I think that I…might be in love…"

"Oh? And with whom may I ask?" Makyura pressed on, curious. Everyone leaned towards Vash curiously.

"I am not completely sure…but it might be with…with…" He twiddled the tip of his scythes nervously, blushing hard. "U-umm…I-I might be in l-love with—"

_ACHOO!_

Everyone jumped in surprise. What was that sneeze? Was someone listening in? Yuuki jumped out of the bed and opened the door, but saw no one. Yuuki glanced down the small hallway before closing the door again. "Well that was…weird…" He shrugged. "Anyway, it's getting pretty late, so why don't we get some sleep? We have a big day tomorrow…" All three Pokémon yawned in agreement, going inside their respective Pokéballs to rest.

Inside Haruka's room, Fiona sat against the door, clutching her chest and taking deep breaths. She and Kiza were almost discovered thanks to Kiza's sensitive nose and the dust on the floor. When she heard Yuuki's door closed, she released Kiza's mouth and glared menacingly at the little fire fox. _"YOU IDIOT! If it wasn't for my teleport, we would've been caught!"_ Fiona chastised telepathically.

"_I didn't mean to sneeze! Some of the dust got in my nose, and I couldn't hold it in any longer."_ She reasoned.

Fiona held her forehead and sighed._ "Great…now I'll never know what he was about to say…"_

Kiza raised an eyebrow._ "Why do you want to know what he was about to say? What are you…jealous?"_

"_WHAT? Don't make me laugh! I'm not jealous! I was just curious."_

"_Suuurrree…" _She drawled.

"_But really, I was!"_

"_I bet you wanted that person to be you huh?"_

"_No, never! Who would care for that tail chasing, good-for-nothing mantis! And for your information, I am only curious because I want to warn the poor soul ahead of time of her potential stalker!"_

"_Oh? Is that so? Then, what if I told you that I knew who this "poor soul" was?"_ That caught Fiona's interest, though she didn't dare show it.

"_Okay…just who is this unfortunate woman who has to suffer Vash's pursuit?"_

"_It's…I'm not telling you…"_

Fiona's jaw dropped._ "What? You can't be serious! You just got to tell me! Who is it?"_

Kiza grinned impishly._ "Why should I? Didn't you say you didn't care about him?"_

"_I don't care about him. I care about his next victim. It's no big deal, just tell me. I won't say a word of it, promise!" _Fiona pleaded, practically bouncing with anxiety.

"_Are you sure? I mean, are you REALLY sure? The answer will shock you…"_

Frustrated, Fiona grabbed her shoulders and started shaking her. _"Just say it already!"_

"_Hehehe…it should be obvious…it's me!"_

Fiona's eyes widened and her jaw nearly cracked the floor. "WHAT?" Unfortunately, she said that out loud…

_WAM!_

A rather large pillow scored a direct hit at her forehead, knocking her off balance.

"Would you be quiet? I'm trying to get some sleep…" Haruka grumbled groggily.

"Oops, sorry…" Fiona apologized. When Haruka fell back asleep, her eyes darted to the Vulpix. In short, she was enraged. _"Kiza, you little tramp! If you touch one hair on Vash's head, I'll…"_ She trailed off when she saw Kiza rolling on her back, almost failing to keep her laughter under control.

"_You should've seen the look on your face! It was priceless!"_

Fiona's mouth hung open, speechless. Being a psychic, that should have been obvious from the start. Quite frankly, she was angry, but also humiliated. _"Y-you know what? I-I'm going to bed! Good night!" _Fiona stormed off towards her Pokéball and enters it, shutting herself away for the night. Kiza was left alone, still giggling over that little episode Fiona just had. Suddenly, she thought of the greatest way to be rid of any chance of boredom. Heh, preying on the weak was fun. She had to remind herself to thank Mikado for her influence later. Fatigued, Kiza decided to go back inside the red and white device to rest up. Tomorrow was a big day after all.

Elsewhere…

"Ha…ha…damn that…that monster! Just what the hell is he?" Tazuma panted, cursing. His body was a bloody mess, and his sash was wrapped around his left eye, a thick amount of blood trailing down from where his eye _had_ been. He was limping towards his home base, empty handed and near death. He could only hope that his father would forgive him for his failure, especially since he found news that could be much more promising…

"I'll get that Yuuki for what he did to me! No one takes out my eye and lives for long…YOU WILL PAY YUUKI!" His voice echoed within the silent streets of Aka city.

* * *

I hope you like this installment. Either the next chapter or the one after it will be the last chapter for the season (the fic will still continue though!). However, when I do finish this season, I will work of the rewrite of Final Desinty. Please keep up on your reviews! Much appreciated!


	11. Big race, bigger decision! part 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon…now please excuse me while I wallow in despair over the matter…

* * *

Shadow and Django slept comfortably besides Shigeru's bed. Since Shigeru was injured, his bed was occupied by the youngest of the Waterflower family. Last night, Kasumi and Satoshi burst through the front door, resulting in a big ruckus, followed by wrestling, yelling, and concluded with Kasumi's wrathful mallet. Django and Shadow stayed by Kasumi's bedside due to her suspicions about a certain raven haired samurai who might pull a prank on her while sleeping. In truth, she called right because Satoshi almost succeeded in making Kasumi turn Shigeru's bed into an indoor pool, much to Django's disappointment since Shadow seemed to be the only one loyal to Kasumi at the time.

It wasn't long until one of the two dogs awoke. The Umbreon yawned quietly as he stretched his legs. He lazily glanced at the digital clock resting on top of a mini drawer next to the bed. It read 6:32 A.M.; meaning Satoshi and Kasumi would have to wake up in an hour. His sleepy red eyes laid on the Arcanine who rested next to him. Django was on his back while his legs twitched every so often. A wide, happy smile was plastered on his face. Obviously, he was having a very good dream. Django had adapted to Shigeru's more…perverted side. One thing was certain; it was a dream world Shadow dared not to enter.

Shadow's stomach growled, demanding something delicious, but above all, sweet. Sadly, this was his only flaw. Sugar and sweets of any kind was his ultimate fetish. Suddenly, his nose caught a scent. His long ears perked excitedly as his tail began to waggle back and forth speedily. It was the smell of sweets, and it was somewhere in this room! But where, oh where could it be? He scanned around the room, but much to his disappointment, found nothing.

"Where are you my lovely sweets…?" Shadow called hungrily. Django soon awoke to find Shadow on the prowl…again.

"What are you looking for this time?"

Shadow jumped on the bed, but carefully so he didn't wake up the sleeping red head. "I smell candy somewhere, but I don't see any."

"Hmm…" He eyed Kasumi's sleeping form. Her covers were tossed asunder as one of her legs dangled off the side of the bed. She lay on her back, sprawled all over and snoring quietly. Her clothes were ruffled and loose from her constant shifting in order to get more comfortable. Django's sense of smell was slightly stronger than his younger, more innocent teammate, so it was no surprise he was able to determine the source. Kasumi brought over some of her shower products last night and used them right before she went to bed. Much to Shadow's pleasure, the scent was from his favorite fruit flavor, strawberry. After some quick thinking, Django started to grin. Anyone who knew Django for longer than a minute knew what it meant…nothing good.

"Oh Shadow…I know where your candy is…" He sang quietly. Shadow's ears twitched as he glanced at him.

"Really? Where? Where?" He glanced back and forth swiftly, ready for immediate pouncing.

"It's not definite…but I know it is some where on Kasumi-chan…check her feet first…" Django snickered lightly as Shadow started to sniff Kasumi's feet.

"Hmm…it sorta smells like…strawberries! I wonder…" Much to Django's amusement, Shadow started licking her feet.

Kasumi giggled as she squirmed. "Mmmm…Sato-kun…"

_'Thinking about Satoshi-kun eh? I think I am going to enjoy this…' _That was when he hatched more ideas. There was no way his grin could grow any wider. "Pst! Hey, Shadow. I think the candy might be somewhere around her face. Take a whiff around there…"

Eager to feast, Shadow approached Kasumi's face. The smell got stronger as his nose drew closer to her lips. He was intoxicated by the strong aroma of strawberries emanating from the Chap Stick on her lips. Cautious, his small lips took a quick peck of her lips. His eyes brightened at the taste. _'This woman…she couldn't be!' _He licked her bottom lips, which caused Kasumi to shudder. _'She is! She's…the fabled strawberry goddess from my dreams! I knew I was right! And everyone just said that was just the influence of the Pokénip. Hah! I showed them!' _Enthralled, he started licking all over her lips, enjoying the sweet taste of her strawberry chap stick.

"By the gods…such sweet nectar…" Shadow cried, having a sugar high. Django was squirming around, trying hard to keep in the laughter. He remembered when he, Shadow and Shigeru went out for training once. Shadow wondered off and ended up in a field full of Pokénip, which was the equivalent of catnip. After succumbing to the influence, he fainted from the strong scent. He had a dream where he visited the strawberry goddess, who had all the strawberries he could eat, and more. Shadow was convinced she existed ever since. Knowing Shadow, he must be having the time of his life. Suddenly, Kasumi's eyes started to open. Django started to sweat-drop immensely.

This could be bad…

Elsewhere in the house, Satoshi tossed back and forth in his bed frantically. His face contorted in misery and his breathing rate quickened. Suddenly, he shot up from his bed, his eyes widened with fear. "NO!" He panted as he clutched his chest. Raigeki shot up from his resting place, startled by his shriek. The mouse jumped on Satoshi's bed and patted him sympathetically. There was only one dream that could affect him so horribly. "What it that dream again Satoshi-kun?" Raigeki asked.

Satoshi sighed as he ran his hand through his sweaty hair. "Yeah…Kasumi-chan had two mallets this time…" Both he and Raigeki shuddered at the thought. Those mallets really were a nightmare!

Seeing it was still early and he couldn't go back to sleep, he might as well check up on Kasumi and see if she was awake. Raigeki perched himself on his shoulder while Satoshi got up and started towards Kasumi's room. When he arrived, he turned the door knob and slowly opened the door, only to have his and Raigeki's jaws drop like dead weights. Django was staring at Shadow and Kasumi horrified. Shadow was above Kasumi, his lips over hers. While Shadow was enjoying himself, Kasumi's eyes were bigger than dinner plates. Her eyes slowly turned to glance at the shell-shocked Satoshi and Raigeki. Satisfied with his "breakfast", Shadow parted their kiss and smiled happily.

"That was delicious! Hey…can I have seconds?" He requested. There was a moment of silence… "Um…plea—ACK!" Kasumi's hand gripped his neck faster than the eye could see. For someone who just got kissed by a Pokémon, she seemed relatively…calm. With a smile, she hummed a tune as she walked past a stupefied Satoshi and Raigeki.

"Good morning. Do you two want some breakfast?" She asked all too sweetly, still clutching the Umbreon single-handedly.

"Err…sure." He answered, still confused. Satoshi, Raigeki and Django followed her as she walked towards the kitchen. Everyone's eyes widened as she pinned Shadow on a wooden cutting board and grabbed a nearby butcher knife.

"NO!" Everyone lunged and managed to prevent Kasumi from severing the misguided Umbreon. During the struggle, Shadow managed to break free and run for his life. After five minutes of wrestling and pleading, Kasumi finally managed to regain her composure and spared Shadow a cruel fate. Django, at this point, made himself scarce; not wanting to explain just what provoked Shadow into doing such a thing.

After all was said and done, Kasumi and Satoshi got ready for today's final competition, but even then they still had a half hour to kill before they had to leave. What better to do than to see how Yuuki got adjusted to his new and much improved home?

Speaking of Yuuki, he groggily opened his eyes, shifting comfortably in his bed. He had slept in beds before, mainly when he spent the night at Haruka's apartment every so often, but the feeling of actually knowing this bed was his, this room was his, the same one that Haruka had slept in time and time again, was exhilarating. He could still smell Haruka's sweet scent from within the sheets and her pillows. Now this was something he could get used to! He breathed in Haruka's old pillow and was instantly filled with relief and happiness. This was the life! If only he could've done this sooner… His reverie was interrupted by the sun beams that filtered the room through the dark blue shades, momentarily blinding him. He suddenly remembered why today was so special.

'_Oh right, today's the finals!'_ He reminded himself. Filled with vigor, Yuuki bounced out of bed and set up a fresh pair clothes on his bed. Wrapped in nothing but a towel, he strolled towards the bathroom. Following his normal routine, Yuuki took a nice, long, hot shower. Afterwards, he stepped out of the shower, dripping wet from head to toe. As he looked at himself in the mirror, he couldn't help but frown slightly. He looked as good as Satoshi without a shirt, but was slightly thinner and still had the permanent scars on his body. If only those scars could disappear, maybe he could enjoy life a little bit more and be free of his haunting memories. With a sigh, he wrapped the towel around his waist and headed towards his room…only to forget that his bedroom was on the left, not the right…

When he opened the door, the color on his face turned bright crimson as he stared wide eyed. Haruka, who was in the middle on putting lotion on her nude body, did the same. They were frozen stiff, completely red in the face. Yuuki slowly closed the door as he muttered an apology. Haruka, though officially mortified, couldn't help but continue to stare. If it wasn't for those scars, Yuuki would have definitely looked just as good as Satoshi, if not better. She decided to continue getting dressed and ready for school, and also keep silent about their encounter. If Yuuki wasn't going to bring it up, she sure as heck wasn't going to.

Meanwhile, Yuuki quickly proceeded back inside the shower, this time, taking a nice, long, _very_ cold shower.

20 minutes later, Yuuki came out of his real room and was fully clothed in his uniform. At the same time, Haruka came out of her room fully clothed as well. Tension filled the air as they stared at each other, remembering their earlier encounter. They both wanted to say something, anything, to break the silence.

"Oh um…Haruka—"

"Yuuki-kun?" They both called simultaneously. More silence. "Um…you first..."

"No, no, that's alright. You go ahead."

"No really, its okay, you go."

Yuuki sighed, annoyed by the constant stalling. "Alright, Haruka-chan…err…I'm—"

_Knock, knock, knock!_

"…Gonna get the door…" Yuuki hurriedly went towards the door, thankfully to the soul who would knock on the door so early in the morning. Haruka sighed in relief. The tension was so thick, she almost couldn't take it. When she saw who was at the door, she was pleasantly surprised.

"Satoshi-kun, Kasumi-chan, good morning!" She greeted.

"Hey," Satoshi greeted back, "Sorry if we woke up two up."

"Oh, don't worry about it. We were already awake." Haruka heard someone approach the corner. It was her mother, Mitsuko. Mitsuko had light auburn hair and blue eyes like Haruka's.

"Hello there. Would you three like to have breakfast with us?"

"That would be great!" Satoshi agreed. Kasumi gave him a flat look.

"Anything edible sounds like a good idea to you…"

"You shouldn't be talking after that stunt you pulled!" Satoshi shot. Yuuki and Haruka tossed him a questioning glance.

"Stunt?" They echoed. Satoshi smirked impishly at Kasumi's death glare. He knew she would kill him if he said anything about her "wake up call".

"Oh nothing." Satoshi sang knowingly. He walked towards Haruka's kitchen, grinning like no tomorrow. There was no better thrill than blackmail!

At the dining table, everyone sat in the following sequence around the table: Satoshi, Kasumi, Haruka, Yuuki, Mistuko and Normu. On the table was a great selection of food including bacon, eggs, waffles, toast, and Mitsuko's famous donuts. Everyone was eating happily as they chatted among each other and made many jokes, mainly at Satoshi's expense.

During breakfast, Yuuki performed one of his favorite rituals, stealing donuts from Haruka. He had already finished his round of donuts, but noticed that Haruka still had some left. Haruka wasn't even paying attention to him. She was too busy talking to Kasumi. Yuuki smoothly tried to take a donut from her plate while pretending to pay attention to the conversation, only to have his hand slapped away. Satoshi and Kasumi sweat-dropped when Yuuki continued trying, but from different angles, only to either have his hand slapped away or Haruka move the targeted donut away from his reach…yet the scary part was that Haruka and Yuuki were doing it on instinct. They weren't even looking at each other the whole time! Yuuki's attempts got faster and faster until Satoshi and Haruka saw nothing but blurs of movement between Yuuki and Haruka. Normu and Mitsuko gave each other a knowing glance.

"…It's your turn honey." Mitsuko said nonchalantly, drinking her morning coffee.

"Sure thing." Normu stood up, walked towards the window and opened it all the way, and then sat down at the table.

Satoshi gave Kasumi a baffled glance. She returned with the same look, equally confused. Satoshi shrugged it off and continued his conversation. "So Yuuki-kun…how was your morning?" He asked. Yuuki was caught off the guard by the question, the memories of earlier flooding back to him.

_Squeeze!_

Satoshi, Kasumi and Yuuki paled at what just happened. Yuuki momentarily forgot that his hands were still trying to grab the donuts. Instead, his hand landed on something round, soft, and off limits to his hands.

_POW!_

In a flash, Haruka's fist shot at his face and sent him flying out the window at high speed. Satoshi and Kasumi sweat-dropped fiercely when the sound of Haruka's jaw cracking punch was later followed with a thud. Normu and Mitsuko didn't even flinch in the least! Just how normal was this routine? Haruka continued to eat normally, annoyance evident by the throbbing vein on her forehead. A few minutes later, there was a knock on the door. Haruka opened the door for the bruised Yuuki, who frantically apologized for what he did.

What really scared Satoshi and Kasumi was when they both sat at the table as if nothing happened.

"Um…Yuuki-kun? Didn't you just—" Satoshi was about to continue when Kasumi stopped him.

"…I think some things are better left unknown…" She whispered, eyeing Haruka and Yuuki weirdly. Satoshi nodded slowly, agreeing with her.

After breakfast, the gang left Haruka's dorm and headed towards the universal department. When they arrived, they took their designated seats and waited for the teacher's arrival. It wasn't long until Mathisu arrived and greeted the class.

"Good morning class."

"Morning sensei!" Everyone chimed.

"As you know, today will be the final day of the competition. Today's test will be a race." There was a murmur in the crowd. "Now first, let me explain about today's race. The duration of the race will be from now until Saturday at sundown. The test from Monday tested your skills and efficiency while Wednesday's test was based on your teamwork. This test however, will not only be the hardest and require all of three qualities, but will be worth the most of all three. The last two test were just that, to test your skills. This is when the real competition begins. The only rule in this test is that ALL of your teammates must reach the goal within the time limit. If one of your teammates dies or goes missing, the rest of your team will fail as well."

"Wait a minute! You can die in this test?" Satoshi asked incredulously.

"That's life Satoshi-kun. As you travel from city to city, there will be many dangers. If you are not prepared to risk your life, then you are not worthy to take on the Bushido league. However, you can back out of this competition if you feel you cannot handle it. The chance of death is moderately high. Wild Pokémon and traps are laid about the obstacle course, and the slightest mistake will cost you your life. Once you've accepted the challenge, you cannot change your mind. I will only ask once, who here does NOT want to participate?" No one raised their hands, fully confident in their abilities. "…Good. You will only have an hour to prepare. We will all meet in front of the Kage forest for further briefing. You are all dismissed until then." All of the students bowed and left the classroom.

An hour later, all of the teams were standing at the waiting point, fully stocked with camping materials and equipment. Mathisu once again approached the students. "Welcome to the grand race that decides your acceptance into the Bushido league! This will be your starting point. You will traverse through the forest and reach the base of Mt. Kurai." Mathisu gestured the large mountain that stood out in the distance. Everyone could tell it would take a full day just to reach the base of the mountain. "From the base, you will climb to the top. The first four teams to make it to the top successfully will be able to enter the Bushido league. Now…on your marks…get set…GO!" Instantly, all of the teams dashed into the forest.

"So, do you have a plan Satoshi-kun?" Yuuki asked, running with Satoshi.

"Yeah, we go straight. It's like they say: There's no faster path than a straight one."

"That's a terrible idea!" Kasumi disagreed, "There would be a load of traps if we go straight. We have to navigate carefully. I just hope you are a good navigator, otherwise we're in trouble!"

"I have a great sense of direction. Just leave it to me!" Satoshi declared confidently.

4 hours later…

"You idiot! I though you said you had a good sense of direction! We are completely lost now!" Kasumi yelled.

Satoshi shook his head. "We are not lost, I can assure you. We've been going north the entire time, and the base of the mountain we have to get to is indeed north." He pointed ahead, indicating the north direction.

"Err…Satoshi-kun? That's east. We've been going east the whole time." Yuuki corrected. Everyone gaped at him.

"WE'VE BEEN GOING THE WRONG DIRECTION FOR OVER 4 HOURS?" Kasumi and Haruka screeched. They glared at Satoshi.

"Um…oops?"

Incensed, Kasumi proceeded to shake Satoshi by the neck of his collar. "Gah! You moron! We lost 4 hours because of you!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

After another 4 hours of retracing, the group made it to the correct path. Thankfully, they didn't lose too much time since most teams had ran into at least one trap or battle. Yuuki, being naturally good with navigation, was the designated navigator. "According to this map, we should be able to reach the mountain by sometime tonight. Once there, we should make camp for the night, then start again early morning."

"Sounds good. Hopefully we don't run into anything on the way." Just as Satoshi said that, the floor below them started to crumble.

_Collapse!_

"WAAAH!" Everyone fell and ended up entangled with each other. Haruka landed safely on the top, Yuuki was under her, followed by Kasumi, and then Satoshi, who was on the bottom.

"You guys are heavy! Get off!" Satoshi tried to push Kasumi off his soon-to-be crushed self.

"Sa…to…shi…-kun...!" Kasumi growled slowly. When Satoshi tried to push her up, he didn't pay attention to what his hands were pushing, namely her chest. "You got two seconds to move those hands, or I'll _gladly_ remove them for you. One…"

"AH!" Satoshi moved his hands swiftly. Unfortunately, he forgot to realize that Yuuki and Haruka were still on top, which only made things worse…

_CLUNK!_

Both Satoshi and Kasumi's foreheads collided with each other, knocking them unconscious. After untangling themselves, it took over a half hour before they were finally out of the hole. Needless to say, it was a painful experience. On top of one of the trees, Ayane laughed conceitedly at their plight.

"So the rumors were true. Trap holes really do work! Wait until Kabu-kun hears this!" The ninja girl departed from the area under the shadows.

5 hours of traps later, most of them being trap holes, Team Tatsujin settled down for a break. While they relaxed, Satoshi thought of an idea. "Why don't we let our Pokémon out? They would probably want to get some fresh air." Everyone agreed and released their respective Pokémon. "Hey you guys. How's it going?"

"So far so good." Makyura answered. The ghost turned to see Mikado and Baiken next to Kasumi. "I haven't seen you two for awhile."

"Meh, no point in sticking around when there's nothing to do." Mikado said. The Croconaw sauntered over to Kiza, who was with Fiona. "Well if it isn't my little Protégé. How are ya?"

"Mika-chan! It's been so long!" Kiza chimed cheerily.

Mikado crouched next to her. "So…anything new going on?"

"Yeah, someone has caught Vash-kun's personal interest and Fiona-chan's dying to find out."

"Ah, interesting." Mika held her chin thoughtfully, "Did you do the test with Fiona-chan?"

Kiza nodded, "Yep, and she tested positive. She's very jealous. I gotta say, they are both so slow…"

"I'm especially surprised with Fiona-chan. I thought psychics were supposed to be the smart ones…"

"I AM RIGHT HERE YOU KNOW!" Fiona shouted, surprising Kiza and Mikado.

Speaking of Vash, he sat by a tree along with Zohl, and Makyura, meditating to build up inner strength and maintain tranquility. The three had done this many times before. Even Vash could be serious sometimes, especially when Riku wasn't bugging him about everything. They weren't facing each other, but the three Pokémon were connected spiritually, so to speak.

"Vash-kun," Zohl started, "I sense a disturbance within your thoughts. Is something bothering you?"

"I'm sorry you guys, I just have a lot on my mind." Vash answered.

"Something…or someone?" Makyura inquired.

"It's some…one…or thing…I don't know."

"This wouldn't pertain to last night would it?"

"Last night?" Zohl echoed.

"Ah, that's right, you wasn't there. It would seem that Vash-kun's wavering heart is beginning to balance, thanks to a special someone."

Zohl was suddenly interested. "Love, huh? I never would've thought. Vash-kun, who is this female that has captured your heart?"

"Wait a minute now! I said _possibly_. Don't go putting words in my mouth Makyura-kun." Vash chided.

"Is that so? Hm…I wonder…" Makyura felt Fiona's presence nearby. Being a ghost, he could send telepathic messages to those with a moderate level of psychic ability. If his guess was correct…

Zohl shifted in his place to get comfortable, but still had his eyes close. "You seem defensive on the topic. Is it fear that's holding you back?"

"No, not at all. It's just that I've never understood the entire concept behind it. It's just that whenever I see her, I just feel…different, you know? I don't think it would mean that I…hm?" Vash suddenly felt a warm hand on his forehead. He slowly opened his eyes to adjust to the light. When his eyes regained complete focus, his cheeks burned with redness.

"Is it true you have a fever Vash-kun?" Fiona asked, looking for signs of sickness. She wasn't extremely close, but close enough to make Vash shift uncomfortably under her analytical gaze. She leaned in closer, noticing his flushed expression. This only made Vash more nervous. "Your face is all red and you are burning up. Looks like you're getting sick."

Vash swallowed hard, failing to break his frozen stare. "N-n-no, I-I'm not s-sick! Um…w-why are you here and…s-so close?"

Fiona stood up. "Makyura-kun told me you was getting a fever and wanted me to check it out. I was just seeing whether you were sick, that's all." She shrugged and left to go back to the rest of the group. Vash's face slowly regained normal color as he recovered from the close encounter. Two pairs of eyes were staring at him, belonging to Makyura and Zohl. They grinned wickedly. Vash paled when he realized why they were smiling so widely.

"Whoa…wait a minute! No, it's not like that! You got it all wrong!" The two grinned wider as they eyed him disbelievingly. "Now don't go thinking like that. I'm telling you, it's not her, honest!"

"It's okay, we believe you…" Makyura and Zohl both reassured. They gave Vash a few moments of relief before winking to each other. "Fiona-chan, Fiona-chan! We got something to tell you!" Vash paled as Makyura and Zohl shot after the fleeting Gardevior.

"WAIT!" Vash made a leap of faith for the evil duo. Vash successfully caught them just before they could reach Fiona. "Don't you dare tell her that!"

"Uh-uh-uh Vash-kun, you do know Makyura-kun can talk to her telepathically right?" Zohl winked at Makyura, who got the signal and sent Fiona a message. The said Pokémon turned her head and faced the three. Vash was sweating bullets. "Now Vash-kun…we can do this the easy way, or the mortifying way. If you don't give us an answer, we'll have no choice but to have Makyura-kun do it for you…no answer? Do it Mak—"

"Okay! I give!" Vash pleaded.

"It ain't over till the fat lady sings, so start singing Vash-kun!" Makyura commanded. Vash gave him a flat look.

"I swear, you and Riku-kun spend WAY too much time together!" Vash sighed in defeat, hanging his head low. "Fine, I'll tell you..." Makyura and Zohl began to listen intently. "To be honest…I am not sure, but the subject of the matter is her. Are ya happy now?" He hissed sharply, but quietly enough so Fiona couldn't hear him.

"Yep!" The two chimed, giving each other a high five.

"We thank you for cooperating with us and hope to do business again." Zohl said in an official voice before heading back to the tree they were meditating by with Makyura. Vash tossed them an angry glare.

"Yeah, business my behind!"

After a good half hour had past, the gang was ready to continue onward. They didn't return their Pokémon, but kept them out in case they fell into another trap hole. The air around them started to get cool, indicating that night was coming. The mountain base was close, they could tell. Without warning, Yuuki stopped in his tracks, sensing someone nearby.

"Hold up guys! Someone's close…I can feel it…"

"Yeah, he's right. It's in this direction!" Raigeki led the way. When they found the spot, they all saw a small, blue Pokémon in the distance, traveling down a river. The Pokémon was about 2 feet tall and had two fins, one on its tail and another on its forehead. Yuuki immediately noticed something wrong with it. Without thinking twice, he jumped in the river and swam after it.

"Yuuki-kun!" Everyone called. Haruka quickly took action.

"Fiona-chan, when Yuuki-kun catches that Pokémon, use your psychic powers to lift him out."

Fiona nodded and set her sights on Yuuki. As soon as the ninja grasp the blue creature in his arms, Fiona's eyes glowed light blue. Yuuki was levitated and softly dropped to the ground on his knees. Satoshi, Kasumi and Haruka knelt around the creature as Yuuki softly set him down.

"Haruka-chan, use your healing power on him. Not only is he unconscious, but he's about to die from fatal wounds." Yuuki requested seriously. Haruka nodded and placed her hands on the Pokémon. A soft, blue light emanated from her hands as the wounds on the creature started closing.

"Isn't that a Mudkip?" Satoshi inquired.

"Yeah. He's also weak from hunger. The poor guy's in bad shape and looks like he hasn't eaten in days, maybe even weeks." Yuuki answered.

"Weeks? How could anyone survive that long without food?" Satoshi gasped in shock.

"Pokémon can last longer than humans when it comes to food, though anyone can last longer than you when it comes to food." Kasumi told him.

"Anyway, let's keep going. Once we reach close to the base, we'll be able to camp." Satoshi led the way for the group, but not without Yuuki telling them the correct direction.

Many hours later, the air around the group chilled, signaling night time. As Satoshi made through a clearing, he could clearly see the base of the mountain. Mt. Kurai was a lot bigger than they imagined. If they wanted to make it up to the top in time, they would have to start early in the morning. As they settled down in a secluded area, each person was given assigned task: Satoshi was to gather fire wood, Kasumi went to get fresh water, Yuuki nursed the Mudkip while he set up home base and Haruka scoured the area to map the layout and assess the situation.

"Man I'm starving…" Satoshi groaned, clutching his stomach.

"Me too…" Raigeki said.

"I take it we are all hungry." Zohl confirmed. As they looked around, they noticed a tree with tasty looking fruits hanging from it. Satoshi looked up at the delicious fruit, on the verge of drooling.

"Score! Time for a snack!" Satoshi leapt and ran up the tree. In a smooth motion he kicked off the tree, slashed off the tops of the apples, and landed. When his sword was sheathed, three apples dropped down. "Okay guys, its snack time!" As soon as Satoshi, Raigeki and Zohl got close to the apples, they were immediately dragged into the air by three ropes, hung by their feet, and Raigeki by his waist due to his short stature. "What the heck? A trap?" Satoshi was about to cut the rope when a voice called out to him.

"I wouldn't do that if I was you." The familiar voice warned. Satoshi frowned when he heard the voice.

"It's you, Kabushi!"

"Good job stating the obvious, Einstein." Kabushi retorted coolly. "I'll say it once more, don't cut that rope."

"Right, like I'm going to listen to you!" Ignoring his advice, Satoshi cut the rope with his sword and flipped in the air so he could land feet first. However, when he landed, the floor beneath him started to crumble, sending him falling into another trap hole. "Ow….."

Kabushi groaned, shaking his head sadly. "I told you so…idiot…"

"What do you want with us?" Satoshi demanded.

"Well first, I would like to have a small _chat_ with you." Kabushi watched and waited as Satoshi got out of the hole and immediately grabbed his sword. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! I said chat, not fight!"

"Huh? But the way you said it sounded like you wanted to fight." Satoshi continued to keep up his guard up as he narrowed his eyes. "So…what do you want to talk about?"

"Well first off, you should be glad. Originally, my team planned to kill you off while you were sleeping, but…I don't like taking the easy way out of a challenge. Believe it or not, your team is the only team to ever give us a real challenge. Before our first meeting, we were unmatched. Being that powerful meant we could do whatever we wanted." He leaned on a tree and stared upward at the night sky. "But it was then you showed up when we were exercising our power. You defeated us. Our first defeat ever was by your hands."

"Does this boring story have a point?"

"My point? This is my point!" Kabushi unsheathed his sword and pointed it at him. "From now on, we are eternal rivals. You will be defeated by us and us only! If you want to be accepted into the Bushido League, you'll have to defeat all of us first, including me! Prepare yourself Tajiri Satoshi! HAA!" Without missing a beat, Kabushi dashed towards Satoshi, his blade held to the side.

_Swipe! Slash! Low slash!_

Satoshi narrowly dodged all three strikes by stepping back. After the third strike, Satoshi dashed in and performed a horizontal slash. Their blades clashed for a beat before deflecting each other. Satoshi was surprised. Kabushi's strength and speed was better than before. They were equals.

"Cross cut!" Kabushi swung his sword horizontally, and then followed up with a vertical strike. The first hit parried Satoshi's blade while the second struck him in the chest. Satoshi hissed in pain as he slid back. Before Satoshi could recover, Kabushi slashed him diagonally and then followed with a spin kick to the face.

"AAH!" Satoshi was sent tumbling across the ground. As he rolled along the ground, he managed to recover and stand on his feet before Kabushi could charge him. Thinking quickly, Satoshi tried to sweep him with a low kick, but Kabushi had the same idea and did the same. Their simultaneous action caused their legs to lock for a few moments. Then at the same time, they pushed their legs against each other, spinning into a horizontal slash. The weapons clashed continuously as they slashed and swiped at each other.

At another location in the forest, Kasumi was having her own skirmish against Team Rocket's fighter, Anji. It had been only two minutes since the fight, but their battle was fierce. Parts of trees and boulders had fist marks and shattered areas. Kasumi's Pokémon didn't enter the fight based on Kasumi's request, but waited in their Pokéballs in case they were needed.

"Looks like you've gotten stronger Kasumi-san." Anji complimented, standing on the balls of his feet, his fist in front.

Kasumi placed her hands on her knees, trying to catch her second wind. "I'll definitely say that you are better than our first fight, but I think it's time to kick it up a notch." She reached into her vest and pulled out a red cylinder about a foot long. When she squeezed it, the object transformed and extended about four feet, turning into a staff. Spinning the staff, she tucked it under her arm as she stood in a battle stance.

"A combat staff? You must be serious. I suppose I should be as well." Anji pulled out a pair of black gloves and slipped them on. It was faint, but Kasumi could see a small blue aura emanating from it. She never saw anything like it. "You look surprised. I'm positive you've never seen anything like this before. This was made by foreign skills. These gloves give me incredible strength and versatility. Observe." He held his two fore fingers and concentrated his Chi on the tips. In moments a white sphere of energy appeared. With a swipe, the energy turned into a whip and lashed at Kasumi, who barely deflected the attack. Whenever Anji moved his hands, a small wave of energy flowed from it.

"Is that some form of magic?" Kasumi asked, guarding herself.

"To be honest, even I'm not sure. The time for talk has passed. Let us communicate with out weapons."

Kasumi grinned. "Now we're talking!" She ran towards Anji and pulled of a feint by quickly dodging to the side. Anji waved his hand at her, deflected her staff attack with the wave. Kasumi performed a low sweep with her weapon, but only aided Anji when he stepped on the staff and jumped over her. When Anji landed, he quickly slammed the back of his fist into Kasumi's face. Luckily, Kasumi's staff was embedded to the ground, so it help prevent her from flying. She used the momentum of his strike to spin around the staff and come back at Anji with a kick. Anji blocked the kick with one of his arms, but before he could react she put more pressure on it by using both of her feet, forcing him to use both arms to block. "Gotcha!"

_Click!_

Her staff broke into half, which was connected by a chain! She tried to slam the edge of her weapon into his face, but Anji had a back up plan. He used one of his hands to send a small chi beam by flicking his finger at the incoming staff attack. The force was just strong enough to stop the attack. Losing air momentum, Kasumi had only one chance to gain advantage. Starting to fall, Kasumi called out a command.

"Retract!" The chains on the staff retracted to connect the two halves and also pulled Kasumi away from Anji. As she landed, she swung her pole and called out another commanded. "Extend!" The pole grew twice as long and continued towards Anji.

"HMM!" Anji jumped over the staff. Just as the pole was about to be beneath him…

_Click!_

The staff broke in half again and extended even further, sticking itself in a boulder. Anji grinned at her cleverness. Obviously, she was going to retract herself into him and strike him down. Unfortunately for her, he was going to strike her down with a force field. Once Kasumi was knocked off balance, she would lose. Still in mid air, Anji flashed his hands at her and concentrated all of his chi strength in creating an invisible wall. Kasumi yanked the chained staff back and called yet another command.

"Retract!" Anji raised an eyebrow. The pole was retracting, so why wasn't Kasumi moving towards him…?

_CRASH! SHATTER_!

"ARG!" Anji's eyes widened as he glanced behind him. Kasumi wasn't trying to move herself. She was moving the boulder her staff got stuck into! The rock smacked and shattered on his back and pushed him towards Kasumi.

"HAAAAA!" Kasumi put all of her strength into her fist and lunged at Anji. If Anji didn't do something, this attack would most likely kill him! Summing up all of his strength, Anji created a high density force field on one of his palms and thrust it at her fist.

_BOOM!_

Haruka was sent tumbling across the ground, clutching her seared stomach in agony. The resulting blast also injured Ryuga, sending him flying into a nearby river. Ryuga recovered and jumped out of the water. "Wave striker!" He performed a seal and used the water in the river to attack Haruka with high pressure water.

"Aero strike!" Haruka called. The wind wrapped around the water and sent it back at Ryuga in a typhoon form. Ryuga performed a seal unknown to Haruka.

"Absorption!" A small hole appeared in his palm and sucked the powerful spell inside. Haruka could feel her magical energy, or mana, being drawn into the mysterious void. What kind of spell was that? She never heard of any technique like that before. "Surprised are we? This spell isn't in your precious spell books. With this spell, I can suck in mana from the surrounding area and take it for my own energy. Soon, you will be without magic and at my mercy!" Ryuga expanded the hole slightly, increasing its power.

"Element buster, materialize!" Haruka quickly transformed her wand into the element buster sword and charged at Ryuga. The enemy mage was surprised by the new technique, but wasn't going to let her strike him down.

"Earth glaive!" As Ryuga slammed his hand on the ground, multiple stone spears jutted out of the ground at Haruka. A few spears grazed Haruka's body, but the girl would not back down. She dodged, parried, and sliced most of the spears as she continued after Ryuga.

"Damn you, looks like I have no choice!" Ryuga performed several seals with his hands and focused all of his strength. "Gene seal limiter, BREAK!" Haruka stopped in mid dash, staring at the sorcerer intently. It was faint, but Haruka could have sworn that light blue, transparent chains and rings appeared all around Ryuga and shattered like glass. Without warning, Haruka felt an incredible wave of mana rush past her, and it came from Ryuga! 8 crystal orbs materialized out of nowhere and circled Ryuga.

"What…what is that?" Haruka stepped back and guarded with her blue blade.

"Hehehe, this is the power of a GS breaker! Go, shield and sword!" Ryuga called out. Four of the orbs grouped together and formed a crystal shield while the rest formed a crystal sword. "You can't assimilate this technique! Wanna know why? Because this is an ability no one else can use! The crystal soul spheres!" Ryuga swiped his blade at Haruka. Haruka could feel his immense new power. There was no way she could compete with that! As Ryuga continuously slashed at her, he couldn't help but worry about using the secret technique. Breaking a gene seal limiter could destroy his body, and since this was only the second time he used it, he couldn't last for long, two minutes at most. If Haruka managed to survive, then Ryuga was done for! The two mages lunged at each other in a fierce sword fight.

At Team Tatsujin's campsite, the battle between Yuuki and Ayane was reaching a climax. Yuuki hid behind a tree with a Kunai in hand. His injuries weren't heavy, but he was slowing down. Ayane had increased a lot in skill and strength since their last battle. Luckily for him, his Pokémon were inside the Pokéballs, ready for interception.

Suddenly, Yuuki heard a small whimper. His eyes darted all over the place and soon landed on the Mudkip he saved earlier. The poor creature was scared and confused. Yuuki couldn't move from his position, otherwise he was a goner, but if he didn't do something, the Mudkip might get hurt.

"What's this? Little Yuuki-kun has a new companion? And the poor thing looks so beat up. How about I make things worse…?" Several Kunais were tossed at Mudkip, pinning the mud fish Pokémon down and immobilizing it.

"Leave him out of this right now!" Yuuki barked.

"Maybe if you defeat me in time! Let's see you protect Mudkip against this!" Suddenly, multiple Kunais, all aimed at Mudkip, flew accurately towards its target.

"NO!" Time seemed to slow down as Yuuki bolted from his hiding spot and ran towards Mudkip. With a life-saving lunge, Yuuki grabbed and protected the Mudkip from the Kunai strikes, but not unscathed. Several Kunais pierced his back and arms, causing great pain for the ninja. In a swift move, Ayane dropped from her hiding spot and held her ninja sword to Yuuki's neck.

"It looks like you lose." Ayane grinned wickedly. Her grin dropped when she heard him cackle lowly. "What's so funny?"

"If anything, this…is a draw…"

"Hm?" Ayane glanced around and paled. There were Kunai traps placed all around her. She then noticed Yuuki holding onto something, a transparent string to trigger the trap. The instant Yuuki pulled the string; she would be impaled by dozens of Kunais!

It really was a draw.

"Hmph, not bad." Slowly, Ayane removed the blade from Yuuki's neck, giving him a sigh of relief. She extended her hand to Yuuki, who was baffled by the gesture. "Congratulations…"

"You have…"

"Passed our…"

"Special test!" Ayane, Ryuga, Anji and Kabushi praised.

"I did?" Each Team Tatsujin member asked, being extremely confused.

Kabushi grabbed Satoshi's hand and pulled him up to his feet. "My team needed to test your skills against our full strength, to determine if we were truly meant to be rivals. If you were a true rival, you would definitely be strong enough to be on par with us. Good job Tajiri."

Satoshi blinked several times, still surprised. "Um…thanks?"

"Don't think this makes us buddies or anything. I am only saying that we will allow you to make it to the finish line. It's getting dark, and I suppose I should get going." Kabushi was about to leave when he stopped in mid step. "Oh, and Satoshi, there's something you should know. It is for your ears only. You remember Tazuma-kun right?"

"Yeah, I remember him. He poisoned my brother and almost killed him." Satoshi spat bitterly.

"Well, someone from your team ran into him last night. Currently, Tazuma-kun is in critical condition."

"He is? And someone from my team did it?"

"Heh, figures you wouldn't know about it. I can't tell you who did it, but I will give you a hint. When you meet up with your team again, say the words …" Satoshi raised an eyebrow from the words. It was very strange yet frightening. "And then see who has a reaction to it. Think of it as getting to know your teammates." With that said, Kabushi left Satoshi to his thoughts.

Sometime later, Satoshi, Kasumi and Haruka, though battered and injured, returned to their camp. Haruka gasped when she saw Yuuki injured. "Yuuki-kun, did you get in a battle as well?"

"Yeah, with Team Rocket's ninja, Ayane. These wounds are nothing though; it will heal by the time we wake up." Yuuki glanced at Satoshi, who was deep in thought. "Satoshi-kun? Is something wrong?"

"Hmm…before Kabushi left, he told me something very weird. I still don't get it." Satoshi held his chin in thought.

"What did he tell you?" Kasumi asked, tending to her own injuries.

"He told me to say something to you guys when I got back. He told me to say…inner demon…" Satoshi glanced at his teammates. Kasumi was confused, Haruka was curious, and Yuuki was…nervous? If Yuuki was nervous, and he brought the moonstone back last night, did this mean Yuuki…?

"Well that's awfully strange. Why would he say something like that?" Haruka pondered.

"W-well, that's not important, right guys? Our battle for the night is done, and if we have our supplies, we should start setting up camp." Yuuki suggested. Satoshi was the only person to catch on. Yuuki was trying to change the subject. So what happened to Tazuma was probably done by Yuuki after all!

Satoshi didn't know what to find more frightening: Yuuki putting Tazuma in critical condition…or how the words "inner demon" affected Yuuki.

Putting his thoughts aside, Satoshi helped the others set up camp for the time being. Two big tents were set up across from each other, a campfire lit in the middle of the two, the blue one belonging to the boys and a pink one for the girls. The group sat around the roaring campfire, taking a well deserved break.

"So Yuuki-kun, how's Mudkip?" Haruka asked, peering over the tiny Pokémon.

"He's doing better, still weak though. Maybe a little food would help…" Yuuki dug into his backpack for some of his own food and started feeding Mudkip. Mudkip's eyes sparkled admirably at Yuuki, eternally thankful for receiving such TLC. Yuuki couldn't help but laugh as Mudkip ate the food hungrily. "Well, someone here is hungry! Here, have some more."

Satoshi couldn't tear his eyes away from the two. They looked like a real family. "Wow Yuuki-kun! You are really good to Pokémon, aren't you?"

"Well, no one else was going to take care of him, so I thought I could at least take care of him until he recovers."

Satoshi tossed him a surprised look. "You're not going to capture him?"

Yuuki shook his head. "No, I don't want to tear him away from his environment like that. Sure, I understand that it's common to capture Pokémon and make friends with them, but I don't want to take Pokémon away from their homes. I just have a feeling about this guy, you know?"

Satoshi placed his hand on Yuuki's shoulder and smiled warmly. "I know exactly what you mean Yuuki-kun. Heh, you really are a great guy!"

"Hehe, if anything, it's you that's really great." Yuuki replied bashfully. The two suddenly started laughing, enjoying each other's company.

Kasumi and Haruka watched the two from the other side of the fire. "I swear, those two are almost like brothers. Kinda cute when you think about it." Kasumi giggled. She tossed Haruka a curious gaze, seeing that she was spell bounded. "So, I'm guessing you're enjoying the sight as well, huh?" Haruka simply nodded, not taking her eyes away. "So which one are you _really_ staring at, Satoshi-kun or Yuuki-kun?"

"…Both." Haruka answered.

Kasumi lay on her side, sighing contently. "…Same here."

Soon, it was time to go to sleep. While Satoshi, Kasumi and Haruka went inside their tents, Yuuki continued to sit in front of the fire, with Mudkip snug in his arms. Strangely, Yuuki didn't feel weary or tired from the long day and battle. Mudkip looked up at Yuuki while Yuuki looked down at him, both of them smiling.

"You know, you remind me a lot of myself some time ago, when I was younger." Yuuki started, remembering the times when he was in the orphanage. The way he spoke to Mudkip was the same way a mother would speak to her child when telling a story. "Back then, I didn't have many friends. Everyone always made fun of me one way or another, whether for my white hair, red eyes, or the fact I never talked. It was lonely and frightening. But you know, it wasn't all that bad. I met one person there. He was very smart and fun, but in the end, we became more like rivals than friends. He was my first rival, and close to being my first friend. He was the only person I would talk to."

"There was one time we had a big fight and stopped talking to each other completely. It was around that time I was cornered by a group of older bullies. I was getting beat up really badly, and then suddenly, he came to my rescue and scared off the bullies. He helped me recover from my bruises and cuts. Sadly, the next day, he was taken away by another family, but I didn't feel sad that I was left alone, but grateful to him for all the times we spent together, whether we were competing or fighting against each other. The only thing I have to remember him by is a song we used to sing with each other to help us sleep at night. Do you want to hear it?" Mudkip nodded happily. "Alright. Here we go…" Yuuki took in a deep breath and started to sing. His voice was smooth and soft, filled with great emotion.

_Yuuki:_

_Moshimo ima subete ga umaku nante ikanai_

_Makesou ni naru toki date_

_Hitomi wo tojireba kokoro kara sekai ga miete kuru_

Yuuki paused for a beat, feeling uncertain. The next verse was song by the boy from his past. He could never sing it. It was the other boy's treasure, and it would feel as though he was stealing it from him.

**In this world when life can be so tough**

**You must be strong**

**Just believe in yourself and don't you fear**

**So open up your mind and close your eyes**

**Take another look from the other side**

'_That voice…it couldn't be!'_ Yuuki whirled around and saw the source of the wondrous voice, Haruka! Haruka only smiled and sat next to him, waiting for him to continue. Yuuki felt more inspired to continue. Just the sound of her soft and angelic voice gave him great motivation.

_Yuuki:_

_Kodoku na yoru demo mayoi osoreru toki mo_

_Ima wa hiroti demo kono ashi de doko made mo_

_Aruite ikeru hazu dakara_

Both Haruka and Yuuki nodded and rocked side to side, singing the next verse together. Many Pokémon spectators peered over tree branches and homes to listen to the duet sung so beautifully.

**_Yuuki and Haruka:_**

_**Just hold on tight hitomi tojita nara**_

_**Look inside yourself kagayaki ga aru kara**_

_**Yes, subete shinjite hoshii**_

_**You can take another look from the other side**_

_**Just hold on tight kokoro kujikete mo**_

_**Reach into your soul ashita ga mienakute mo**_

_**Yes, ikiru tsuyosa ga areba**_

_**You can take another look from the other side**_

_**Ai no subete ni deau made…**_

_Yuuki:_

_Kono sekai de ikinuite-iku tame no tsuyosa wo_

_Anata ni negate-iru kara_

_Kokoro no tobira wo hiraitara_

_Nanika ga miete kuru_

**Haruka:**

**Just remember you are not alone**

**So don't you fear**

**Even though you're miles away**

**I'm by your side**

**So open up your mind and close your eyes**

**I'll be there for you no matter where you are**

_Yuuki:_

_Hoshi no inochi nara negai kedo itsu made mo_

_Onaji kono hibi ga kurikaesu wake ja nai_

_Ashita wa dare ni mo mienai_

**_Yuuki and Haruka:_**

_**Just hold on tight hitomi tojita nara**_

_**Look inside yourself kodou kanjiru kara**_

_**Yes, "MIRAI" shinjite hoshii**_

_**You can take another look from the other side**_

_**Just hold on tight kokoro kujikete mo**_

_**Reach into your soul ashita ga mienakute mo**_

_**Yes, chigau sekai ga ate**_

**_You can take another look from the other side_**

_**Ai no subete ni deaeru yo…**_

_**Just hold on tight hitmoi tojita nara**_

_**Look inside yourself kodou kanjiru kara**_

_**Yes, "MIRAI" shinjite hoshii**_

_**You can take another look from the other side**_

_**Just hold on tight kokoro kujikete mo**_

_**Reach into your soul ashita ga mienakute mo**_

_**Yes, chigau sekai ga ate**_

_**You can take another look from the other side**_

_**Ai no subete ni deau made…**_

As they finished, the two noticed Mudkip sound asleep. Yuuki stared at Haruka in surprise and admiration. "How long were you there?"

Haruka shifted closer to him, hugging her knees. "Pretty much the whole time. When I heard you sing, it brought back memories from my childhood. My mother used to always sing that song to me before bed as well, so I couldn't help but sing with you when I heard it sung so beautifully."

"U-u-umm…thanks…" Yuuki reddened from the complement. "You were really good too, better than I ever imagined!"

"Thanks." Haruka giggled. Yuuki could have sworn his heart stopped when Haruka leaned her head against his shoulder. "He looks so peaceful and happy…" She said, referring to the mud fish Pokémon who slept with a smile on his face. Yuuki could only nod, speechless from having Haruka resting against him.

"It's getting a bit late. Perhaps you should go back to the tent and…" Yuuki slowed his sentence to a stop when he noticed Haruka's eyes closed. She had fallen asleep. Feeling tired as well, he decided to let her rest and feel asleep while leaning his head on top of hers.

Elsewhere…

"DAMMIT SATOSHI-KUN! COME BACK AND GET US DOWN FROM HERE!" Raigeki shouted, still hanging from the tree by his waist.

"I should've known he would forget us…that fool…" Zohl sighed.

"THIS BITES!" Both Pokémon's cries went unheard throughout the now silent forest.

* * *

Sorry this chapter took so long. I sorta had a writer's block with this one. I made sure to make this one extra long to make up for it (and have some fluff for you romance fans).The next chapter is what I would like to call the end of the "Competition arc". Chances are, I will be taking a break and/or working on final destiny afterwards. Please leave plenty of reviews for me and I hope to catch ya later!

Disclaimer part 2: I do not own the song "Open up your mind" sung by…actually, I am not sure who, but I do not own this, really! I found the lyrics from Animelyrics (dot) com.

Btw, Mitsuko is Caroline in the dub (I have to thank SaiyanSatoshiLegend for this info)


	12. Big race, bigger decision! part 2

Disclaimer: Dear lawyers and other strange strangers…I DON'T OWN POKÉMON!

This is it! The final chapter for the first arc of _Bushido league: Samurai's quest_! If you liked this arc, you'll fall in love with the next one! Enjoy!

I would like to dedicate this chapter to Mikazuchi and sykilik101. You guys are the best! (I highly recommend everyone to read their stuff! It's very good!)

* * *

_Satoshi found himself lying on a large, round bed, surrounded by flower petals and candlelight. The room was dim and he couldn't tell where he was, but the atmosphere was very comfortable. He sat up on the edge of the bed, trying to determine where the heck he was. _

_Satoshi was suddenly startled by a pair of arms wrapping around his chest and a soft giggle. "Oh Sato-kun…"_

"_Huh?" Satoshi turned to see Kasumi pressing herself into his back. "K-Ka-Kasumi-chan? What are you doing?" He jumped away in fear, surprised by the fighter's strange, yet enticing, attitude._

_Kasumi giggled again. "Stop playing around Sato-kun. I wore this outfit especially for tonight."_

_One good look at Kasumi's outfit, and Satoshi's nose started to bleed profusely. Kasumi was endowed in a very revealing maid's uniform with complementary cat ears and tail. Satoshi suddenly lost his voice and tried with all of his might to stop drooling._

"_You seem tense Sato-kun. Allow me to make you feel more…relaxed…" Kasumi tugged on the straps of her outfit, teasing Satoshi to no end._

_Satoshi couldn't turn away. Curse his dreaded hormones! Kasumi started to take off her clothes, on the verge of revealing her—_

_**ZAP!**_

"WAAA!" Satoshi suddenly shot up from his sleeping bag; awaken by a powerful surge of electricity. He turned and shot Raigeki an irritated glance. "Why do you keep doing—"

_SMACK!_

Satoshi fell backwards onto his sleeping back, a huge bump on his forehead. The object that flung at Satoshi's head flew back to the owner. "That's what you get for forgetting us!" Zohl said, still peeved off.

"Ow…" Satoshi rubbed his now aching forehead, cursing out in pain. "Sorry about that. I didn't mean to leave you guys behind. Here, I'll let you get some rest." Satoshi recalled Zohl into his Pokéball. "Hey, is anyone else awake yet?"

"Nah, they're still knocked out." Raigeki started to grin mischievously. "Oh, and by the way, you might wanna wipe off that drool on your cheek."

"Wha? Aw man…" Satoshi wiped off the remnants of his still warm drool, feeling very embarrassed. He tossed Raigeki a suspicious glance. "You didn't say anything strange to me in my sleep, did you?"

Raigeki put on a fake, innocent smile, laughing nervously. "N-no I didn't. W-what would ever make you think that?" Satoshi tossed him a flat, disbelieving look, which caused Raigeki to sweat bullets. "Oh, um…hey, would you look at that!" Raigeki looked surprised as he pointed at something behind Satoshi.

"Hm?" Satoshi glanced behind and saw nothing. When he turned back around, he saw a trail of dust leading out the tent. Satoshi slammed his fist on the ground in annoyance. "Dammit!" He was about to chase the scheming rodent when he noticed something missing. Where was Yuuki? He found his answer as soon as he stepped outside the tent. Yuuki was asleep while sitting cross-legged. Next to him, Haruka was hugging his arm and sleeping against him. The set was so adorable, Satoshi almost felt bad about having to wake them up. They looked like brother and sister while sleeping like that.

Satoshi knelt next to Yuuki and shook him lightly on his shoulder. After a few attempts, Yuuki's eyes slowly opened. "Oh, hey Satoshi-kun. What's up?" Yuuki's voice was tired out, which was understandable. Sleeping the entire night in such a position didn't promote good health. "Hey…where's Mudkip?"

Satoshi glanced around and also noticed Mudkip's absence. "I'm guessing he left already, probably to go back to his family." He saw a look of slight rejection on Yuuki's face. "Don't worry. I'm sure he's grateful that you helped him. Maybe he'll come around again."

"…Yeah, you're right. It's for the best anyway."

"Alright, we gotta get ready. It's time to continue our race to the top. I'll wake up Kasumi-chan while you wake up Haruka-chan." Though Satoshi was curious, he felt it was better not to question Yuuki about why he and Haruka were sleeping together, especially since his mind was still going over the possibility that Yuuki was the one who almost killed Tazuma. Since Mathisu knew Yuuki better than anyone else, it made sense that he was the best person to talk to about the matter. For now, his mind was on the race.

Satoshi stepped inside the pink tent and saw Kasumi, still asleep. As he knelt next to her, the image of his dream rushed back into his mind. He froze on the spot, picturing Kasumi in the same outfit as the dream. '_No, no, NO! I gotta keep focused! Remember the race! There's no time to lose!_' Hesitantly, he placed his hand on Kasumi's shoulder and shook her lightly. "Hey, wake up…" He whispered. There was no response except for Kasumi shifting in her sleep. Not wanting to be too loud, he leaned closer to her ear. "Kasumi,-chan wake up. It's time to get ready…" Without warning, Kasumi slipped her hand on the back of Satoshi's neck.

"Just a taste…please…" Kasumi pleaded softly. Satoshi's face flushed immediately. After reading one too many of Shigeru's favorite books, he had a clear idea of what she meant…but the main question was, did he dare to try? The sweet memories from their first kiss came to mind, bringing a smile to his lips. He wasn't the most romantic guy in the world, but his sense of taste never failed him. Her lips were remarkable. Kasumi started pulling Satoshi towards her, causing him to sweat. He really wasn't ready for this kind of thing yet! Just as he thought their lips were going to connect, her lips parted as they went after something else…

"Hey Haruka-chan, wake up, it's time to get going." Yuuki said in a whisper. Haruka's eyes fluttered open, still dazed and tired.

"Oh, good morning Yuuki-chan. Sleep well?" Haruka asked.

"Kinda. My back hurts a little though…" Yuuki winced as he tried to move.

"Oh no. It's all because I fell asleep on you last night. I'm sorry."

"Nah, it's alright. I'll be fine with a little stretching."

Haruka held her chin in thought. "Actually, I might be able to help you with that. Turn around for a minute." Yuuki complied with her request and did so. Haruka cracked her knuckles and gripped Yuuki's shoulders firmly. Yuuki was tensed in surprise at first, but as Haruka started to massage his back and shoulders, he started to feel better and less tense.

"Ah, that feels great…" Yuuki closed his eyes and reveled at her touch.

"My dad taught me how to do this. It comes in handy a lot of times." Haruka started working on the more sensitive parts of Yuuki's shoulders—

"YEOW!"

"AAH!" Haruka jumped and accidentally squeezed a nerve on Yuuki's shoulder, which caused the ninja to black out, falling to the side. "AH! Y-Yuuki-kun!" She tried to shake him awake, but to no avail. Curiosity struck her as to why Satoshi screamed. When she entered the pink tent, she raised an eyebrow in confusion. Kasumi was awake and staring at Satoshi oddly, wondering why he was rolling on the ground and holding his neck, writhing in pain.

"What's up with you? And why are you holding your neck?" Kasumi asked, peering over him curiously.

Satoshi started at her incredulously. "Because you bit me, you blasted vampire!"

"Who are you calling a vampire? And just what are you doing here?"

"I was trying to wake you up, but you nearly bit off my neck!"

Haruka continued to stare, thoroughly confused. "What's going on here? And what's Kasumi-chan doing biting people's neck?" She narrowed her eyes at Kasumi. "Wait a minute…Kasumi-chan? Are you…trying to put the moves on Satoshi-kun?"

Kasumi noticed a hint of suspicion in Haruka's voice and stared at the mage in disgust and shock. "Have you gone mad? The only move I would put on Satoshi-kun is a drop kick!"

"Yeah, since it's the only thing Amazons like to do on their spare time..."

_POW!_

"No one asked you!" Kasumi yelled, stomping on the poor samurai after punching him.

"Kasumi-chan! Stop it! If you kill him, we won't be able to win the competition!" Haruka pleaded, holding back the raging red head.

"Ngh…" Satoshi shook his head as he stood up; shaking off the brutal beating he just received. "Why is it that every time I wake up, I am always either getting beat up, or having a heart attack? Is my luck really this terrible?"

Both of the girls glanced at Satoshi quizzically. "What are you talking about?"

Satoshi, feeling misunderstood, sighed heavily. "Nevermind." His eye caught Yuuki between the tent's flaps, lying on his side. "Um…can I ask why Yuuki is unconscious?"

"Oh no! I totally forgot!" Haruka quickly ran to Yuuki's aid, attempting to revive the fallen ninja. Sometime after the events, Team Tatsujin continued their journey towards the mountain.

When Team Tatsujin reached the base mountain, they were astounded by the sheer size of it. Mt. Kurai was extremely tall, seemingly touching the clouds. There were dozens of openings, leading into a labyrinth of tunnels and caverns. If they were going to make it to the top in time, they had to be fast!

"According to the map, there are currently 20 different paths we can take. About half of them are all through caverns while the others involve scaling the sides of the mountain. What path should we take?" Yuuki asked.

"Which one is fastest?" Satoshi asked.

Yuuki turned his attention to the map. "Hm…there's a path that goes through a cavern halfway, then follows up the side paths on the outside. That one is the fastest, but according to this, it is extremely dangerous, not to mention that even Class S students have trouble going that path."

Satoshi grinned excitedly. "Then that's the path we'll take!"

"Didn't you hear what he said? It's too dangerous! If a Class S has trouble, then what hope does Class B's like us have?" Kasumi reasoned.

"Plenty! Come on now! We've got this far with team work! So what Class S students had trouble! Everyone goes through hardships, and the Bushido League isn't going to be any easier. The bigger challenges we face, the stronger we become. If we always take the easy road, then we'll never become great warriors! You just gotta have hope and believe! With all of us in this team, there's nothing we can't accomplish!" Satoshi crossed his arms, waiting for her reply.

"…You know what, Satoshi-kun's right! We got through some tough times before! This isn't any different!" Haruka stood by Satoshi's side.

"I agree. If it wasn't for our team work, we would've never got this far. Count me in!" Yuuki was next to stand by his side. Everyone stared expectantly at Kasumi, who with enough time sighed in defeat.

"Okay, fine. You win." She looked up at the three, smiling. "You got me! Let's go!

"That's the spirit! Let's go!" Satoshi was about to lead the way when Kasumi grabbed is shoulder.

"Not so fast! You're not going to get us lost again!" Kasumi turned to Yuuki. "Yuuki-kun will guide us through these caverns. You'll just take the front in case we get attacked."

Satoshi promptly face-faulted. "That's so unfair!" He led the group, with Yuuki giving the directions, inside the cave. The interior was dark and creepy, vacant of any living thing. The deeper they went, the darker it got. After an hour of traveling, the inside of the cave grew too dark.

"Agh, we need some light. I can't see a thing!" Kasumi complained.

"Raigeki-kun, can you give us some light?" Satoshi requested. Raigeki charged himself up and glowed bright yellow, illuminating the path for them. "Great job Raigeki-kun. Finally, now we can—WHOA!" Satoshi stopped in the middle of his tracks, almost falling backwards. In front of him was a deep pit, which stretched endlessly into the void. One slip would mean death.

"That was close! Are you alright?" Kasumi asked. Satoshi nodded, slightly shaken up. Kasumi could see the path they have to go to, but it was at least 15 feet away. Only Yuuki could reach that far by running on the wall. "We need to get over this pit somehow..."

"Maybe our Pokémon can help." Satoshi suggested.

"I know just the one who can help!" Haruka nodded to Yuuki, who took out a Pokéball. "Go, Fiona-chan!"

"Come on out Vash-kun!" Both trainers called out, releasing the two Pokémon. "Hey Fiona-chan, I need you to help us get over this pit. Vash-kun, you'll be the support for us while we go across, alright?" Yuuki said.

"Sure thing Yuuki-kun, I'll help out." Vash said. Fiona only nodded in agreement. The first one to cross was Haruka, who was the second lightest in the group. Vash tucked his scythes under her arms and positioned himself for flight. Fiona then used her psychic powers to levitate Haruka, making her light enough for Vash to carry with ease. Vash carried Haruka across the chasm and dropped her softly on the ground. Yuuki, who was able to get across on his own, was on standby in case something went wrong. Kasumi was next, and then Satoshi was last. After everyone crossed successfully, Fiona and Vash were the only ones left. The Pokéballs couldn't recall them from the distance, so they had to go across by themselves. Fiona didn't miss Vash's lecherous grin.

"Need a lift?" Vash asked, almost to the point of snickering.

"So you can do something perverted? No thank you." Fiona dismissed. She proceeded to use her powers and began to float. Vash watched Fiona as he flew next to her. This was one mantis who was never out of tricks, and he had a good one in mind, seeing that Fiona's eyes were closed. He hovered next to her and carefully brushed the tips of his scythes against her sides. Fiona twitched at the feeling of something tickling her sides and instantly knew what that blasted mantis was trying to do…and it was working. "Stop it! You're going to make me fall!" She shot, trying her best to concentrate on flying.

"And if you do, I'll be there to catch you. Hehehe…" Vash continued to tickle her sides.

_CRACK!_

A rock fell from a stalactite and connected with Vash's head, courtesy of Fiona's psychic aggression. Getting the message, Vash floated away from the psychic. If tickling wasn't an option, there was always his specialty, jokes.

"Pst! Hey Fiona-kun! What do you call a Ninjask crossing with a Pikachu? …A nunchaku."

Fiona staggered slightly in the air, caught off guard by the joke. "S-stop it! That was not funny!"

Vash knew better. She was smiling, so his jokes were working a little. "Hey, what's a Machoke's favorite jewelry? …A choker!"

"S-s-stop it V-Vash…" Fiona resorted to holding her breathe. She had to be strong. There was no way she would be defeated by that good-for-nothing, pervert of a mantis. She was almost at the end of the chasm, and once she successfully landed, Vash was dead!

Vash could tell his jokes were having an effect. Just one more push and Fiona would fall…literally. "Hey Fiona-chan! Check this out!" Extremely hesitant, Fiona peeked from one eye and paled. Vash was dressed in a uniform similar to Satoshi's. "Go, Raigeki-chan! Use Thunderbolt!" Vash did the same exact motion Satoshi would do and even mocked Satoshi's voice.

And then Fiona, the headstrong and serious psychic, cracked.

"AHAHAHAHAHA!" Fiona chuckled madly as she began to plunge into the darkness.

"Gotcha!" Vash flew downwards to catch Fiona…only to miss by a mere inch. Everyone sweat-dropped as Fiona continued to fall, but all she did was laugh. Luckily, Yuuki managed to catch Fiona to the nick of time, though he had some difficulty since Fiona couldn't stop laughing. Vash grinned widely at this.

Fiona was never going to live it down.

Vash and Yuuki landed on the other side of the pit. Everyone glared at Vash, who sweat-dropped nervously. "Um…I guess I _sorta_ didn't plan that far. I guess all's well that ends—"

_POW!_

The Scyther was knocked into the wall thanks to Fiona's psychic powered punch. "I've could've died because of that stunt you pulled!" Fiona chastised. Her cheeks and eyes were still red from her episode of laughter.

Satoshi couldn't help but continue to stare at Vash, who was still imprinted into the cavern wall. "Um…can anyone explain what's up with Vash-kun and that uniform?"

"I'm guessing he likes to cosplay as certain characters. But _where_ he got it is beyond me." Yuuki shrugged. After spending a few minutes to peel Vash off the wall, Haruka and Yuuki recalled the two Pokémon and continued their way through the caves with the rest of the group.

While traveling the cave for nearly 2 hours, Satoshi noticed something very odd. "Hey, isn't it strange that we haven't fought a single enemy yet? And the only trap we came across was a pit?" Everyone glanced at each other, the same thought in mind.

"Yeah, I found that strange too." Kasumi glanced around with caution. As she walked, she almost tripped over something hard on the ground. When she looked down to see what it was, her skin started to crawl. "Ah! It's a skeleton!"

Yuuki knelt and picked up a skull, examining it. "Hm…it doesn't seem very old. There might really be a threat around here. We should be careful."

"Yeah." Satoshi agreed. Another hour passed, yet no sign of any real danger. Suddenly, the gang heard a growl com from behind. "What was that?" Satoshi and the rest turned around to see the source of the noise. A giant, brown grizzly bear Pokémon glared at the intruders.

"What fools dare to enter my domain?" The bear snarled.

Satoshi backed up cautiously. The bear was over 8 feet tall and looked menacing. This was the very dangerous bear Pokémon, Ursaring. "Um…we were just passing by to get to the top, that's all. Sorry if we caused any trouble…"

The bear tilted his head, looking mildly surprise. "Strange…how is it you humans can understand my speech?"

"Human technology gave us the ability." Haruka answered.

"I see. It matters not. I will only give you one chance to escape, otherwise you will die." The bear cocked his razor sharp claws, showing how serious he was.

"Sorry, but we can't go back. We have to press onward!" Satoshi unsheathed his sword, cueing Kasumi, Haruka and Yuuki to do the same with their weapons.

"Suits me just fine! DIE!" The bear swiped his thick claws at the gang, causing them to jump back and scatter. Fighting something that huge in a dark, confined space like this wasn't a smart idea. Satoshi thought of a way to buy time.

"Raigeki-kun, use Thunder Shock!" Satoshi called. Raigeki shot a strong surge of electricity towards the Ursaring. The bear shook it off and slashed at the Pikachu. Raigeki got struck, but it was merely a graze. "Kasumi-chan, Haruka-chan, Yuuki-kun, you guys go ahead. Try to get to the outside of the mountain. We'll have more ground there!" He said as he swung his sword at Ursaring.

"Okay, be careful!" Yuuki led the way for Kasumi and Haruka as they ran ahead.

"Hmph, trying to save your friends? It won't help, especially since the rest of my pack is also there, waiting for their meal to arrive…" The Ursaring licked his lips hungrily.

Satoshi grinned knowingly. "You don't know my friends like I do. They won't be eaten by your pack. Bring it on!" He took out his Pokéball and summoned the Marowak. "Raigeki-kun, Zohl-kun, let's do it!" He stood in between the Pokémon, ready to fight with them.

"You got it!" Raigeki got into position.

"Let's dance." Zohl twirled his bone club, prepared to strike.

Ursaring roared as he lunged for his victims. Zohl and Raigeki dodged to the side while Satoshi jumped over Ursaring and slashed downward. The attack barely fazed the Pokémon as he lashed at Satoshi. Luckily, Satoshi guarded and only received injury from being slammed into a wall. Raigeki launched a series of Thunder Shock attacks while Zohl and Satoshi slashed at Ursaring. The bear's skin was very resilient, making him hard to injure. Satoshi and his Pokémon's attacks only served to annoy Ursaring.

_SLAM!_

Ursaring slammed his fist into Raigeki's stomach, sending his light frame flying.

"RAIGEKI-KUN!" Satoshi lunged and caught Raigeki in midair. "Hey, are you alright?"

"Yeah, just didn't see that coming." The Pikachu coughed.

Zohl was soon knocked in the air, but landed and regained balance. "Satoshi-kun, we aren't doing any damage to him. His defense power is too high!"

"Then we'll have to combine our strengths! Ready?" Satoshi nodded to Zohl and Raigeki, who both knew what to do. Satoshi and Zohl held their weapons horizontally as they rushed towards their target. "X STRIKE!"

_SLASH_!

Ursaring growled in pain as Satoshi and Zohl blade rushed their opponent. Now for the second phase. "Now Raigeki-kun!" Zohl cued.

"Here I go! Thunderbolt finisher!" Raigeki let loose a strong electric attack, aiming for the spot Satoshi and Zohl struck. The wind from the X strike accelerated the Thunderbolt attack and hit dead on. Ursaring roared as he fell on his back.

"Alright! We did it!" Satoshi cheered.

"Did…what?" Satoshi gasped as Ursaring stood up, clutching his seared stomach. "You bruised me and call it a victory? Such ignorance will be your undoing!"

_GASH_!

"GAH!" Satoshi fell back, hugging his chest in pain. The attack slashed his chest directly, causing him great pain. '_Damn! That was one of my most powerful techniques, and it barely scratched him! I gotta think of something, and fast!_' Suddenly, he thought of a brilliant idea. He winked to Raigeki and Zohl, who got the message. Satoshi gasped as he pointed behind Ursaring. "WHAT IN BLAZES IS THAT?"

"Tch, that trick isn't going to work on me! I'm no moron!" Ursaring spat.

_SMACK_!

"Agh!" Ursaring felt a hard rock slam into the back of his head. "What?" Ursaring turned around to see the Pikachu directly in front of his face.

"FLASH!" Raigeki let loose a blinding flash, blinding the bear.

"AAAAH!" Ursaring covered his eyes and cried in agony.

"Now!" Satoshi called. He, Raigeki and Zohl darted away from the bear and ahead to meet up with the rest of the group. Satoshi was barely two minutes away from the beast when he heard loud and furious stomping. Ursaring recovered sooner than expected. Satoshi didn't know his way around the cave, and if he got stuck in a corner, he was good as dead. While running, he noticed small flags posted on the side of the walls, indicating the direction he should go. Thank goodness he had good teammates! After crossing through two paths, Ursaring started closing in on them.

"Satoshi-kun, he's right behind us! I'll try to slow him down with another Flash attack!" Raigeki leapt and turned to face Ursaring in midair. "FLASH!"

"Not this time!" Ursaring covered his eyes before the light could affect him. "HA! Now I've got—"

_SLASH_!

"ARG!" Ursaring howled as Satoshi slashed him across the face and kicked off to gain distance. Ursaring was beyond peeved off at this point. "Grrr…you three…are on my LAST NERVE! RRROOAARR!"

"WAA! RUN FOR IT!" Satoshi sprinted with Zohl and Raigeki to escape the clutches of the raging Ursaring. Three minutes into running, Satoshi noticed Ursaring coming very close. He had to think of a way to slow him down. Flash probably wouldn't work, but maybe… "Raigeki-kun, I got a plan…"

"I have you now!" The enraged Ursaring was mere feet away from severing Satoshi when the samurai called out a command.

"Raigeki-kun, use Flash!" The Ursaring covered its eyes in a hurry to prevent from being blinded. "Hehehe…gotcha."

_SMASH_!

"ARG!" Since Ursaring covered his eyes, he couldn't notice the stalactite in front of him, slamming into his face. The Pokémon fell and rolled on his back in intense pain. Satoshi took this time to run away and meet up with his team.

When Satoshi arrived, his friends had already summoned their Pokémon and started fighting a ton of Ursarings. Makyura had no injures since his special ability prevents certain types of attacks from hurting him., but Riku and Vash received moderate to high amount of injures. Mikado, Baiken and Fiona were faring pretty well, but Kiza was in bad shape. With the humans, Kasumi and Yuuki received only minor injures, but Haruka had a few bruises and cuts. The number of Ursarings taken down was high, but plenty still remained.

"They just keep coming! When will it end?" Yuuki exclaimed, jump kicking another Ursaring.

Haruka blasted two Ursarings with a fire spell. "I…don't know…but I…hope this ends…soon…"

After slamming an Ursaring with her fist Kasumi turned to see Satoshi approaching them. "About time you got here! What took you?"

"The boss of these guys was really tough! But later on that, let's take out these Ursarings! Let's go guys!" Satoshi charged into the fray along with Zohl and Raigeki. With Satoshi joining the fight, Team Tatsujin's morale, numbers and strength increased. After several strenuous minutes of endless fighting, all of the Ursarings were eliminated. Riku, Kiza and Zohl fainted from exhaustion while everyone else was weakened, even Makyura since he was using a lot of power.

"I think that's all of them. What a relief…" Kasumi panted heavily, exhausted from the fight.

"Yeah…about time…ugh…" Haruka fell on her knees, having used too much magic in one day.

Yuuki ran and knelt next to her. "Haruka-chan, are you alright?"

"Please Yuuki-kun…you're too loud…" Haruka's head was throbbing and Yuuki's loud voice didn't help.

"Oops, sorry." Yuuki helped Haruka stand up. "Can you stand alright?"

"Um…yeah." She glanced at Satoshi, who was helping Kasumi recover. Even though it wasn't the time, she couldn't help but feel slightly jealous. How come he wasn't the one helping her?

Yuuki took note of Haruka's frown and was concerned. "Is something wrong?"

"Oh, it's nothing…" Haruka staggered a little, but managed to gain footing.

With the Pokémon, Fiona managed to use her Recover technique to heal most of her wounds. She glanced to see Vash sitting on the ground, weakened and tired out. Everyone else was paired up and helping each other recover. The only ones who weren't paired were her…and Vash. After debating with herself, she sighed and went over to him.

Vash had trouble trying to move. His right arm and leg were severely injured and bleeding, and there was a gash across his chest. He definitely wasn't in good shape. He couldn't even stand. Every part of his body felt like it was burning from the pain. At least he couldn't say the same for all the Ursarings he took down. He shifted and sat down cross-legged while closing his eyes, concentrating on relaxing his body so it could heal faster. Suddenly, he felt the pain on his body lessen, at a rate faster than normal. Was his mediation practice helping him heal this well? He opened his eyes to see exactly why he was healing so fast. Fiona was healing him! She was knelt beside him, using her Recover technique.

It was then Vash noticed something, something he never took note of until now. The way she was position and how the sun's gaze fell on her just right, she clearly was the definition of beauty. Wait…why on earth is _he_ thinking this stuff? This wasn't him at all! But still…he couldn't help but notice how different Fiona was from any other female Pokémon he ever met. It was something radiant, more or less divine, about the Gardevoir. Unfortunately, he still couldn't tell what that something was. Perhaps it was her eyes, also known as the window to someone's soul. So was it her eyes that captured his attention…or her soul?

Fiona was busy healing Vash when she noticed him staring directly at her. She tried to ignore it at first, but Vash continued to stare for an over a minute, which caused a faint blush to crawl upon her cheeks. "Um…Vash? What are you staring at?" No response. Her blush deepened, feeling awkward about him staring so intently in her direction. Just what was it that entranced Vash so much? "Vash? Are you there?" Still no response. She grabbed his shoulder with her free hand and shook him lightly. "If this is some kind of joke, it's not funny. Come on Vash, quit it!"

A faint whisper escaped Vash's lips, so quiet only Fiona could hear. "beau…tiful…"

Fiona's face turned bright crimson. Her heart began beating a mile a minute. Did Vash just say she was…beautiful? That didn't sound like Vash at all! Did he get hit in the head too hard? What was going on? If he really was saying that to her, how was she suppose to react? She could try hitting his head over and over to bring him back to normal, but that might do just a little more harm than good. What was she going to do?

It was at that point Vash regained his senses and realized he said the wrong thing out loud. He immediately panicked. "Oh, um…err…the sky is beautiful! I mean, wow, look at that weather! It's so clear today!" His attempt to play it off was pathetic. It was his turn to be worried when he noticed her silence. Her face was frozen with shock, but completely red. "Um…Fiona? You alright? Hello?" Vash tapped on her forehead, trying to bring her back to reality. The sudden action made Fiona jump, causing her to put a little too much power into her Recover move, turning it into an psychic attack. The force of the psychic blast blew Vash about ten feet away.

"Oh no, Vash! Are you alright?" Fiona went over to the Scyther, who was currently smoking from the intensity of the blast.

"Agh…what does it look like?" Vash shot.

"Don't worry. Let me heal you."

Vash immediately jumped up and pretended to stretch. "T-t-that won't be necessary! I'm all fine now, see?"

Fiona gave him a flat look. "You're still bleeding. How are you fine?"

"No, really! Look, my arm is perfectly fine too!"

"…Am I to believe it's supposed to bend like that?"

"Err…it's the new style!"

Annoyed, Fiona towered over him with a frightening glare. "Sit down, close your eyes, shut up and let me heal you, or else!"

"Eep! Okay!" Vash did exactly what he was told, not wanting to be slain by Fiona.

Haruka and Yuuki sweat-dropped as they watched Fiona tried to _help_ Vash. "Is she trying to help him or kill him?" Yuuki asked.

"Err…I think both…" Haruka guessed.

Satoshi grabbed his weapon and stood up. "Let's hurry. I know there wasn't enough time to rest, but we still have some distance to cover. And if we don't hurry, that stupid bear will come after us."

"WHO ARE YOU CALLLING STUPID?" A voice roared from behind. Satoshi turned around saw the same Ursaring he encountered earlier, but this time the bear had a huge bump on his forehead. He gave the boss Ursaring a flat gaze.

"You aren't exactly smarter than the average bear to fall for my tricks. Three times to be exact."

"Whoa…three times? To fall for Satoshi's trick even once must make you a real dunce." Kasumi quipped.

"I'm not stupid you know! I can be pretty smart too!" Satoshi snapped.

"Alright, what's 5 times 9?" Without missing a beat, she turned to face the Ursaring. "Okay, now that we have a few minutes, I would like to illustrate my point…"

"Ouch, that was cold…" Raigeki noted Satoshi's baffled expression as he attempted to solve the math problem. "…I gotta use that one sometime…"

"What is with you crazy people?" Ursaring asked incredulously.

Yuuki sighed as he crossed his arms. "You know, I've been trying to figure that out ever since I met them…"

Haruka punched Yuuki upside the head in annoyance. "You're probably the craziest one of all!"

"If you all are done, I would like to get back to destroying you." Ursaring said impatiently.

"Oh, alright, just one moment." Kasumi walked over to Satoshi and tapped on his shoulder. "Pencils down Satoshi."

Satoshi's jaw dropped in shock. "I've could've used a pencil? Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

Everyone face-faulted in surprise. Just how it was Satoshi got this far in school?

"That's it! I had enough of this stalling! I hope you're ready to die!" Ursaring bared his claws for battle.

"Actually, I have a better idea…" Satoshi turned to his teammates and pointed behind them with a look of shock. "OH MY GOD! WHAT IS THAT THING?"

"Huh?" Kasumi, Yuuki and Haruka turned to look in the direction.

"RUN!" Satoshi told Ursaring. The bear nodded and ran back into the cave. "Hehehe…sucker…" While Ursaring was gone, Satoshi led his team up the mountain's side towards the goal.

A half hour later, Ursaring stopped running to catch his breath. "Alright…I think I got away…" Suddenly, a thought occurred to him. "Wait a minute…why am I running? …KUSO! NOT AGAIN!" He turned to run back, but forgotten the path he took to get where he was now.

In other words, he was completely lost.

"YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS!" Its roar echoed throughout the cavern.

After an hour of traveling, Satoshi found a space to rest. It was sometime past 1 o'clock, which was perfect time for lunch. Only five hours remained for the race, and chances were at least one person already made it. Even if they were running out of time, the team needed to rest. Luckily, their food wasn't damaged during their previous battle.

"Man I'm beat! I see why the Class S guys had so much trouble, and we still have a few hours to go until we've reached the top." Kasumi fell on her backside, feeling sore all over.

Yuuki laid out the map between his teammates. "I vote we all take an hour break, then go straight for the goal. According to the map, it looks like it is just a spiraling path. There's only one cave we have to go through, but that leads to the end of the nexus of tunnels that is connected to the goal. All and all, it should take us a minimum of two hours if we sprint."

"Two hours of running? That sounds awfully long." Haruka said.

"Actually, it's the shortest path. From what I can see, the sensei gave us such a short time that we would have no choice but to run, and that's just to make it in time. We ran most of the way here, so that's no problem."

"I see. Well, enough about that, let's eat!" Satoshi dug into his backpack, but only to pale when it was vacant of food. "Aww man! I don't have any food!" His head droop dejectedly.

"Don't worry; I should have something left we could share." Yuuki dug into his backpack, only to come to the same conclusion as Satoshi. "I don't have any food either! I gave them all to my Pokémon!"

"Well, it looks like just me and Haruka have food left." Kasumi said, taking out her own lunch.

Haruka sat next to Satoshi and took out her own food. "Here, we can have lunch together Satoshi."

"Are you sure you have enough? I mean, I don't want you to go hungry over me…"

"Nonsense! I'll be just fine, here, have a piece." Haruka broke off a piece of her donut and gave it to Satoshi, who hungrily bit into the donut.

Kasumi saw Yuuki's expression. He was crushed. She couldn't let him go hungry since it would affect the team negatively, so she walked over to him. "Here, just take it." She shoved her donut in front of Yuuki.

Yuuki averted his gaze. "…I'm fine, don't worry about it."

"No you are not! I can last longer than this without food, so I'm fine. Just go ahead and take it.

"I said no thanks." Yuuki's tone was a little darker than usual, filled with hurt.

"Hmph, suit yourself. Don't come crying to me when you get hungry later." Kasumi tried, but Yuuki seemed to be taking things a bit more serious than usual. Something was definitely eating at him. Most likely Haruka, who was enjoying being in Satoshi's company. Sometimes, people can be real idiots…

During the hour, Team Tatsujin fed their Pokémon with the remaining food they prepared for their mission towards the peak. The hour rest was beneficial, for everyone felt ready to continue onward. The trek to the top of Mt. Kurai would take at most 3 hours. But with their combined effort, the trip could be completed in two hours. After the rest, Satoshi continued leading the group to the summit.

An hour into the trek, Satoshi and the others felt a tremor in the earth. It couldn't be an earthquake since they are in the mountains and there wasn't any snow for an avalanche, so what was it? Their question was answered when a huge, angry and familiar Pokémon burst through the wall behind them. Ursaring's eyes glared murderously at Satoshi, who could only grin nervously. "Hey buddy, did you have a nice trip?"

"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MUCH TROUBLE I WENT THROUGH BECAUSE OF YOU?" The bear snapped harshly.

"Huh, all of this just to see me? I'm flattered…I think." Satoshi joked, only fueling Ursaring's fury.

Kasumi nudged Satoshi on the side nervously. "Err…Satoshi? I don't think that's a good idea…"

"I HAD ENOUGH OF THIS! ALL OF YOU WILL DIE RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW!" Everyone gulped as Ursaring charged at them. As everyone dodged Ursaring's charge, they summoned all of their remaining Pokémon.

"Fiona-chan, use Psybeam!"

"Raigeki-kun, Thunderbolt!"

"Mikado-chan, Water Gun! Baiken-chan, use Flamethrower!" All of the trainers called. All four attacks flew at the bear Pokémon with incredible force.

Ursaring guarded himself and started to glow red as all of the attacks struck dead on. The following explosion enveloped Ursaring in a gray mist of smoke. Everyone knew the attacks hit, but from the way it looked, it seemed as though the Pokémon wanted to be hit. But the question was, why?

Haruka noted how the Pokémon turned red before the attacks struck, which could only mean one thing... "Fiona-chan, hurry and use reflect! That Ursaring is using bide!"

Satoshi was confused. "What's that?"

"It's an attack that grows in power depending on the amount of damage a Pokémon receives. All of our attacks hit Ursaring directly, meaning the next attack coming at us will be very powerful! Fiona-chan, be on your guard!" Haruka warned.

"I will!" Fiona stood in front of the group and erected a transparent barrier. Just as the barrier was erected, a huge, yellow beam shot at the group from the smoke!

**_CRASH_!**

The barrier held against the beam for a few seconds, only enough to give some of the other Pokémon time to get out of the way. The barrier shattered and struck Mikado and Fiona, knocking them out. Kasumi and Haruka recalled the fainted Pokémon. Haruka stayed on standby since all of her Pokémon were knocked out.

"Makyura-kun, use Fury Cutter!" Yuuki called. The Shedinja disappeared and reappeared in front of Ursaring, about to slash him with his claws.

_Flamethrower!_

"WHAT!" Yuuki gasped in horror as the fire attack burned Makyura. Makyura's Wonder Guard ability only allowed him to be affected by super effective attacks, and unfortunately, fire was one of Makyura's weaknesses. The ghost/bug Pokémon dropped to the ground, unconscious. Yuuki recalled Makyura.

"Heh, didn't think I could use fire attacks, did you?" Ursaring scoffed. He was heavily injured from the earlier combination attack, but still had a lot of fight left in him.

"I'm also full of surprises! Vash-kun, Shadow Blade formation!" Yuuki said. Vash joined Yuuki's side, taking on a battle pose. Yuuki took out his blade and did the same.

"Baiken-chan, let's go with Twin Blitz formation!" Kasumi called. Baiken stood by Kasumi and took on a similar fighter's stance.

"Haruka-chan, Raigeki-kun, let's be the support group! Mystic Edge formation!" Satoshi said

"Okay." Haruka turned her wand into the Element Buster blade and stood by Satoshi, Raigeki in front.

Ursaring watched as each group positioned themselves in a triangle formation around itself. This battle just got more entertaining…

"Vash-kun, let's go!" Yuuki and Vash both dashed towards Ursaring with blinding speed. Ursaring was about to strike the two when they jumped to the side, dodging the attack. Both Yuuki and Vash zipped across and around Ursaring, attacking with light, yet painful slash strokes. The bear Pokémon tried to attack one or the other, but whenever he directed his attention to one, the other would strike him, throwing him off balance. He was about to throw a tantrum when he realize just why he kept falling for their tricks. Anger and brute force didn't always solve the problem. Closing his eyes, Ursaring attempted to sense a pattern in their attacks. After a minute of predicting, his eyes snapped open.

"Gotcha!"

_SLASH!_

"ARG!" Vash was thrown against a wall from the slash attack. He was about to stand up when a wave of fire from Ursaring's Flamethrower struck him.

"NO, VASH-KUN!" Yuuki jump kicked the Ursaring, stopping the barrage of flames from incinerating Vash. Yuuki recalled Vash inside the Pokéball, giving him a chance to rest.

"It's our turn!" Kasumi darted along with Baiken for a team strike. Ursaring charged at them with equal ferocity. "Dual Mega Punch!" Kasumi jumped over Ursaring's charge and punched him in the face while Baiken ducked and punched Ursaring in the stomach. The attacks knocked the wind out of Ursaring.

"Kasumi-chan, Low Kick!" Baiken called. Kasumi dropped on the ground behind Ursaring and performed a low kick similar to Baiken's attack. She successfully tripped Ursaring, but it didn't end there.

"Baiken-chan, Blaze Kick!" Kasumi commanded. The Combusken jumped in the air and jumped kicked Ursaring in the stomach with flaming feet. Kasumi jumped out of the way just in time before Ursaring came crashing down onto the earth. Kasumi and Baiken jumped back and psyched themselves up for the finishing move. Ursaring stood on his feet, but groaned in pain, dazed.

"DUAL DYNAMIC PUNCH!" Both Kasumi and Baiken called simultaneously. The two jumped high in the air and dove at Ursaring while spinning. Ursaring barely gained consciousness in time to prepare a counter attack. He inhaled deeply while conjuring a massive amount of energy in his mouth, preparing for a hyper beam. The two female's fist was about to strike when Ursaring unleashed the devastating blast.

_**CLASH!**_

Though the girls were engulfed within the hyper beam, they continued to push into the blast! For a few moments, both attacks were equal in strength, causing a stand still.

"Come on! We can do it! PUSH! KYAAA!" Kasumi yelled as she attempted to punch through the beam.

"I'm…trying…my best…! HAAAA!" Baiken pushed along with Kasumi. The beam suddenly grew a little in power, which was enough to overpower Kasumi and Baiken, sending them crashing into a wall and knocking them out. When the blast ended, the Ursaring started panting heavily. Using hyper beam required a lot of energy, so he needed to catch his second wind.

"Yuuki-kun, go and check on Kasumi-chan and Baiken-chan! Haruka-chan, Raigeki-kun and I will take on Ursaring!" Satoshi said. He cocked his blade for battle, cueing Haruka and Raigeki to get ready. "GO!" As Satoshi, Haruka and Raigeki ran at Ursaring, the 10 foot monstrosity unleashed a wave of fire from his mouth.

"Water sword, activate!" Haruka's blade glowed with a blue aura. "Aqua Slash!"

_WHOOSH_!

When Haruka swung her sword, a wave of water soon followed, canceling the attack and creating steam. The steam obscured Ursaring's vision.

_SLASH!_

Satoshi slash Ursaring's stomach vertically. The past attacks weakened Ursaring's defense, doing more damage than normal. "Thunderbolt!" Satoshi called. Raigeki jumped over Satoshi and zapped Ursaring with a powerful shock. Ursaring was about to swat the mouse with his sharp paw when a gust of wind pushed Raigeki out of harms way.

"Thanks for the save Haruka-chan!" Raigeki flipped in the air and landed on his feet.

"It ain't over yet! Earth sword, activate!" Haruka's blade went from blue to brown. "Piercing earth!" She stabbed the magic sword into the earth. Almost instantaneously, multiple spikes emerged from the earth and shot after Ursaring. Ursaring dodged most of the spikes, but ended up grazed by a few.

"RAAH!" Ursaring swiped at Satoshi with his thick paws. Satoshi held up his blade defensively, but was still knocked over from the bear's immense strength. When he recovered, Satoshi came back at Ursaring with a slash, but was blocked and knocked back.

"HIYAAA!" Raigeki latched himself onto Ursaring's back and pored almost all of his energy into shocking the giant.

"Water sword, activate!" Haruka changed her blade into an aqua sword. She jumped in the air and powered up. "Aqua Slash!" When the water from the attack hit the Ursaring, it not only injured Ursaring, but Raigeki was still shocking him, causing even more damage!

"I HAD ENOUGH OF THIS!" Ursaring thrashed about wildly, not only throwing Raigeki off his back but delivered a full powered Mega Punch to Haruka's stomach, sending her flying. She tumbled along the ground and ended up lying next to Kasumi and Baiken.

"HARUKA-CHAN!" Yuuki dashed to the mage's side and lifted her head up. "Are you alright? Speak to me! Haruka-chan!" He checked her pulse, fearing the worst, and then sighed in relief when he felt a beat. Thankfully, she was just unconscious. "Haruka-chan…"

_CRASH!_

Satoshi and Raigeki were thrown to a wall and slid down, heavily injured. Satoshi glanced weakly at Yuuki and noticed something strange. He was…trembling. "Ugh…Yuuki-kun? What's wrong?" When he looked closer, he could see Yuuki gritting his teeth. Satoshi couldn't tell whether he was extremely angry or trying to hold something back. Yuuki suddenly clutched his head and started howling in pain.

"No! I can't lose control…! I can't lose control…!" Yuuki chanted repeatedly. Raigeki's fur stood on end.

"W-w-what's going on with Yuuki-kun? My danger senses are going wild!" Raigeki couldn't stop shaking. Satoshi could no longer deny it. Something was definitely wrong with Yuuki!

"HAH! YOU'RE MINE!" The wild Ursaring bolted towards Yuuki, who was still in intense pain.

"YUUKI-KUN, WATCH OUT!" Satoshi yelled, but Yuuki wasn't listening. Yuuki's mind felt like it was on fire, but he had to try. If _he_ got released, then his friends were in trouble. Ursaring raised its razor sharp paws and swung at Yuuki—

_SMACK!_

"ACK!" The Ursaring was knocked over and dropped to the ground, temporarily dazed. It was just around that time Yuuki got a hold on himself and turned to see what saved him. His eyes widened when he saw a familiar Pokémon come to his aid.

It was the Mudkip he saved earlier! He came back and saved Yuuki!

"Hiya! Long time no see!" Mudkip chirped. He jumped on Yuuki and licked the cut on his cheek.

"Thanks for the save! Why did you come back?"

"Well, you were so nice to me earlier that I decided to be your best friend! I'm Kusanagi, nice to meet ya!"

Yuuki smiled widely. "And I'm Yuuki! Welcome to the team!"

"Sorry to interrupt the fluffy moment, but we're not out of danger yet!" Raigeki warned, pointing to the recovering Ursaring.

"Yeah, but we are still in the game thanks to Kusanagi-kun." Satoshi said.

"Ngh…you'll pay for that!" Ursaring stood up and began gathering energy for another hyper beam attack!

"Not this time! Kusanagi-kun—"

"—Raigeki-kun—"

"HEAD BUTT!" Satoshi and Yuuki called out. Both Pokémon ran together and launched at Ursaring.

_SLAM!_

The powerful two-man Head Butt struck Ursaring's face, redirecting the devastating hyper beam attack upward. The beam sliced through a small section of the mountain, causing a land slide.

**_CRRAAASSHHH!_**

"NOOO!" Ursaring was slammed repeatedly by the rocks and knocked off the mountain. Raigeki managed to jump away from Ursaring in time, but Kusanagi wasn't as fortunate.

"KUSANAGI-KUN!" Yuuki jumped off the mountain after the Mudkip. While freefalling, Yuuki landed on top of the Ursaring and scooped Kusanagi in his arms before kicking off the bear. "HM! HM! HA!" Yuuki jumped from boulder to boulder, pushing his body as hard as he could to live. "Almost there!" He kicked off the last boulder and reached for the edge…only to miss by an inch! "AH!" He started to fall—

"Gotcha!" Satoshi grabbed Yuuki's hand in the nick of time, pulling him to safety. Yuuki dropped on his knees panting, still clutching onto Kusanagi. That was too close for comfort!

"Ha….ha…oh man…I've never been so scared in my life! You sure got dramatic timing!" Yuuki joked, flashing his signature grin.

"Yeah, well, at least I saved your behind! So there!" Satoshi stuck out his tongue playfully, and Yuuki returned the gesture. They caught themselves acting childishly and laughed at each others expense. "Alright, enough of that, let's get Kasumi-chan and Haruka-chan then go to the summit. We're running short on time."

"Yeah, sure. Um…Satoshi-kun? Is it alright if…if I can…carry Haruka-chan?" Yuuki asked timidly.

"Sure, go ahead. I'll carry the tomboy." Both boys slung the girls on their backs in piggy-back fashion and started to carry them onwards, followed by Kusanagi and Raigeki, who were enjoying each other's company.

Up on the summit, three of the four teams were already there, waiting for the fourth team to show up. The teams were Isuka, Zeji, and Tenshi. The sun was about to set, and there was no sight of the last team.

"If the final team doesn't show up in the next ten minutes, it will be just the three of you going into the Bushido league." Mathisu announced. Secretly, he hoped the last team would be Tatsujin. 5 minutes past, and all hope seemed lost when everyone looked to see four more people showing up. Everyone was surprised with the final team to show up, especially Mathisu and Team Tenshi.

In the final passage to the summit, Satoshi and Yuuki were getting tired from carrying the unconscious girls, but time was so short they couldn't rest. Satoshi glanced at Yuuki, who had a small smile on his face. It was obvious why. "Hey Yuuki-kun, enjoying yourself?"

Yuuki checked to make sure Haruka was asleep before answering. "Yep! What about you?"

"Uhh…She's a bit heavy…ACK!" Satoshi nearly suffocated as Kasumi unconsciously tightened her hold around his neck for a few moments. "Man, she even tries to kill me in her sleep. I bet she was an assassin in her past life."

Yuuki chuckled. "I wouldn't doubt it. But if you look beyond that, she's quite attractive."

"Hmm…" Satoshi pondered Yuuki's words as he glanced at Kasumi's face. Yuuki did have a point… "I guess she's alright. It'll take awhile before I get used to the repetitive punishments though."

"Heh, yeah…" Both teens fell silent as they continued their trudge. After a few moments, Yuuki summed up the courage to ask a question. "Hey Satoshi-kun, do you…love Haruka-chan?"

"HUH?" Satoshi nearly tumbled over in surprise. "What kind of question is that?"

"It's an honest question. Well…do you?"

"Hmm…I never thought about that." Satoshi glanced upward in thought. "Well, she's really nice, pretty cute, and very dependable. She's also smart and funny. But really, I'm not sure. Do you?"

Yuuki didn't even faze at the question. "You already knew the answer before you asked, didn't you?"

"I guess I did." Satoshi shrugged. More silence. When Satoshi saw Yuuki's face, curiosity struck him. Why was he so red? "Hey, are you alright?"

"Um…w-well, it's hard to say…" Yuuki could feel Haruka tighten her arms around him and her face nuzzling against his. He could hear her moan softly into his ear, making it burn. His face started to get redder and redder with each passing moment.

"Are you sure something isn't…ah…!" Satoshi gasped lightly as he felt Kasumi suck on the base of his neck, making him blush and sweat nervously. He and Yuuki gave each other a nervous glance. "Err…I think we could slow down just a _little_ bit."

"…Yeah, I agree…" They slowed down by half their speed, enjoying their _special_ treatment. A few seconds later, Satoshi's face was contorted in pain. Yuuki was about to ask what was wrong when he noticed Kasumi biting Satoshi's neck. It wasn't a moment later when Haruka tightened her grip around Yuuki's neck, cutting off some of his blood circulation. He and Satoshi gave each other a look. "…I think we should hurry up."

"You've read my mind." Both boys started to sprint hurriedly. As they continued, they could see a light at the end of the path. There was the finish line!

"Alright, we made it!" Satoshi praised.

"Let's hurry!" Yuuki ran with Satoshi towards the goal. When they arrived, they saw everyone give them surprised glances.

"Satoshi-kun! Yuuki-kun!" Hiroshi gasped in surprise. Everyone stared at Team Tatsujin.

"Hey Hiroshi-kun! It looks like we both pass the test! Now we can be accepted into the Bushido league!"

"I don't think so." A familiar voice said. Satoshi turned and pointed in shock.

"Kabushi? Your team made it as well? I guess this means we all pass."

Kabushi stormed up to his face, extremely peeved off. "Why don't you count Tajiri? Only four teams can enter the Bushido League, yet you're the fifth team to arrive! Do the math!"

"What? You've got to be kidding!" Satoshi looked around and noted the teams. Team Isuka, Team Zeji, Team Tenshi, and… Team Rocket. Yuuki and Satoshi lowered their gaze dejectedly.

They didn't make it in time…

"I'm sorry Satoshi-kun, but Kabushi-san's right. You indeed made it just in time, but you didn't make it before the final team showed up." Mathisu felt his hopes sink. He really expected more from Team Tatsujin, but maybe he pinned his hopes on them too high. But then, something occurred to him. "Wait a minute…why is your team so hurt? Surely you couldn't have sustained that many injures from the traps set. What path did you take?"

"…We took the fastest path. The same road the map told us was too dangerous." Satoshi answered. Everyone's jaw dropped in shock. Did they hear him right?

"Satoshi-kun, did you really take the path that even Class S students found difficult?" Mathisu asked. Satoshi nodded. "Did you happen to run into a pack of Ursarings on your way here?"

"Yeah, we did. There must've been at least 40 of them, including their boss, but we managed to defeat them all."

"YOU DEFEATED THEM?" Everyone shouted at the same time.

"It was almost impossible, but we somehow pulled through, not that it matters anyway…" Satoshi felt like he could cry. So much hard work and dedication put into the past week of intense battles, test, and trials. All of those victories and risking death…were for nothing…

Mathisu held his chin in deep thought. For them accomplish something so arduous and challenging, taking the Bushido league away from them would be a grave mistake. "Hmm…well, it's been decided." He announced suddenly. "I've decided to make an exception. Now this school has five representative teams for the Bushido League!"

"WHAT?" Everyone directed their attention to Mathisu.

"But…we failed the test, so what do you mean?" Yuuki inquired, confused.

"As I see it, yes, you did fail in making it here before the four teams did. However, not only did you make it here within the time limit, but you defeated the pack of notorious Ursarings that have been raiding this mountain. Your team alone has accomplished something that not even a team of Class S students could accomplish. That in itself is more than enough extra credit." Mathisu smiled as he ruffled Satoshi and Yuuki's hair. "Congratulations, you've been accepted into the Bushido League!"

Haruka and Kasumi awoke to the sound of cheering and clapping from the teams, but were soon caught in a whirlwind of joy as Satoshi and Yuuki twirled Kasumi and Haruka in the air respectively. "Whoa, whoa! What's going on?" Kasumi asked, getting dizzy.

"WE'RE IN THE BUSHIDO LEAGUE! YAHOO!" Satoshi cheered loudly Kasumi and Haruka's expressions lit up with excitement.

"YES! WE DID IT! WE DID IT!" Kasumi and Haruka joined Satoshi and Yuuki in their dance of joy.

Kabushi leaned against a rock, watching Team Tatsujin celebrate their victory. "Hmph. I knew they would make it the whole time." Kabushi scoffed.

"Yeah right. I bet you lost hope when you noticed we were the fourth team." Anji said, grinning.

"I did no such thing!"

"I bet you were going to cry."

"I wasn't going to do anything like that! Why you…!"

Ayane stepped between them. "Now, now, instead of fighting, let's celebrate! Our rivals made it, which means more fun for us!"

Kabushi huffed as he leaned against the wall. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Now things are going to be more interesting."

Many hours after, it was night time and everyone left to go back to their homes, all except everyone's favorite raven haired samurai and his Pikachu. They were told to wait for Mathisu in the Arcadian park's center. It wasn't long until the sensei arrived.

"Good evening sensei." Satoshi and Pikachu bowed in respect. "You wanted to speak with me?"

"Yes I did. Please, sit down." Mathisu invited Satoshi to the bench and sat next to him. He had a serious expression on his face. "Satoshi-kun, have you had any strange dreams lately? Perhaps nightmares that seemed to link together?"

"Yeah, I did. It's been driving me crazy. How come you know?"

"Well, as you know, my wife is a psychic. With her level of abilities, she has a faint ability to see into the future. Not everything is clear, but what we wanted to do is show you the events to come."

"Events to come?" Satoshi echoed, interested.

"Yes. You see, those dreams weren't really dreams. Na-chan's has been sending you messages as you slept in order to mentally prepare you the best we could for the trials you will face in the future. There will come a time where your life and the lives of your friends and loved ones will be in danger. In that time, you will be the key difference between life and death.

"Do you know when this will happen? What do I need to prepare for? Who do I need to fight?"

Mathisu shook his head. "That is something I cannot answer. All I can say is train and prepare, but also enjoy life as it is now. Spend time with your friends and family, and relax for the time being. For when the time comes, you will be needed to fight for your life."

While listening, a thought occurred to him. "Mathisu-sensei? Can you tell me about Yuuki-kun? I mean, earlier while we were fighting the leader of the Ursaring pack, something strange was happening to him. Plus, I have suspicions that he might've injured someone really bad earlier."

Mathisu face turned grim at the news. "Hmm…I see. So it's starting to happen already…"

"What's starting to happen? What's wrong with Yuuki-kun?"

"…No, now is not the right time for that. For now, all I can tell you is that Yuuki-kun needs your help. Right now, he is struggling with something bigger and more dangerous than you can imagine. When it comes down to it, you will be the key that saves Yuuki-kun. Your friendship with your team and your courageous and pure heart will be the bond that keeps all of you together."

Satoshi pondered about his words and nodded. "I understand. Thank you for telling me this sensei. I think I'm going to go home for now. I'm beat." He stretched and yawned tiredly.

"Okay. Good night Satoshi-kun."

"Night sensei." Satoshi stood up and turned to leave.

"Oh, one more thing…" Mathisu called. He walked up to Satoshi and patted him on the shoulder, giving him thumb's up with his other hand. "Cat maid uniforms huh? I like your style!"

Satoshi's face turned bright pink, both from embarrassment and memory. Raigeki snickered madly at Satoshi's expression.

"You should've seen his face while he was asleep. He had this BIG goofy grin on his face. Not to mention he was drooling!" Raigeki exaggerated…but not by much. Satoshi's pink face soon turned red from anger.

"YOU EVIL LITTLE RAT! GET BACK HERE!" Raigeki continued to laugh as Satoshi started chasing him around the park. Mathisu sweat-dropped fiercely.

"Hmm…perhaps I should've mentioned that my wife can also read dreams. Oh well." A thought crossed his mind, causing him to grin. "Maybe Na-chan might be interested…"

"Interested in what…dear…" A creepy, female voice spoke. Mathisu jumped as he nervously turned to see Natsume behind him.

"Oh, um…hi honey! You know, I was just thinking about you…"

Natume gave him a flat look. "I've noticed, and I will NOT wear such a ridiculous outfit."

"Oh come on! Satoshi-kun had the right idea. You never know if you would like it unless you try."

"I know plenty well! Like the conversation we're going to have when we get back home." Natsume grabbed Mathisu's ear and dragged him home.

"Ow! Come on honey, I was just kidding, really! Owowowow! Don't twist it, don't twist it!"

_Dear Journal_

_4/7/15_

_Mood: Exhausted, relieved_

_It's been two days since I've written in this book, yet so much has happened. First thing was on Thursday. When I woke up, somehow, I was in the same bed as Kasumi! I don't think I've ever been so surprised (or scared) in my entire life! I mean, my shirt was off and everything! I don't care what Kasumi says, I bet something happened…I wonder what that would be like…if we ever…_

…_Oh, sorry, kinda spaced out for a moment. Anyway, on that same day, I was invited on a date. My brother and I joined Kasumi's sister (Sakura) and her date, Tazuma, who I really despise. My brother, my own flesh and blood, made Kasumi MY date! Seriously, I think he's after me these days. Well, truth be told, it wasn't too bad until a group of thugs burst inside and held us hostage. Luckily, they were all defeated…but I was too busy arguing with Kasumi to remember what happened. I still wonder about that…_

_Anyway, my brother was soon poisoned by that bastard Tazuma! Luckily, Sakura saved Shigeru's life and kicked Tazuma's butt! Something very strange happened though. Tazuma originally stole the Moonstone from Sakura and escaped with it, but somehow, Yuuki managed to get it back! Seriously, that guy is really starting to creep me out._

_Oh yeah! You'll never guess what happened the next day! You see, Kasumi stayed over my apartment since Shigeru was getting treated over her dorm and there was no one in my house (This time, I made sure she didn't end up on the same bed as me). When I woke up and went to check up on Kasumi, I found her making out with Shigeru's Umbreon, Shadow (I kid you not, they were K-I-S-S-I-N-G! I'm so going to blackmail her for life on that one!). _

_Afterwards, the team and I went to class for our final test, the big race. We had to reach the top of Mt. Kurai, which was hard. During the first day, our team fought against Team Rocket, yet strangely, it wasn't a very long fight, though it was very difficult. In the end, they thought of us as rivals. I thought they were nuts. After the fight, Kabushi from Team Rocket told me that Tazuma was in critical condition, and the person who caused it would react to the words "Inner demon". It was a surprise who reacted to that word…Yuuki. That blew me away. I knew something was different about him, but I didn't think it would go that far. But, I decided to give Yuuki the benefit of the doubt…for awhile._

_Another strange fact was that same night, I could've sworn I heard singing. It was pleasant and soothing. It might just be me though…_

_Oh man…just wait until you hear this. I had this dream last night…about Kasumi…and to be honest…it was good. Ever since my brother showed me the world of "Neko Neko paradise" I had a liking for cats…and I'm not talking about the animal. Kasumi had on this cat maid outfit and was flirting with me, big time! The dream was just getting good when Raigeki zapped me! Raigeki and Zohl ganged up on me, just because of a **tiny **mishap._

_Moving on, my team took the hardest path and had to fight a bunch of powerful Ursarings and a really strong, but dumb one! It was tough, but my team made it through thanks to Yuuki's new Mudkip, Kusanagi. Originally, it was suppose to be four teams to be accepted into the Bushido League, but we were the fifth team to be accepted. I still can't believe it. My friends and I…are accepted into the Bushido League. It feels so amazing!_

_I spoke with Mathisu-sensei tonight. Apparently, something big was going to happen, and I'm going to be the difference between life and death. Plus, I know officially know that there is something dangerous about Yuuki, and he needs my help…no, he needs all of our help. Kasumi, Haruka, Yuuki, we've all been though so much together, and that was just for a month. In the month we've been together, we've discovered so much about ourselves and each other. We fight together and prevail together. Now, there is something that wishes to test our friendship. Whether we lose or win, the outcome is uncertain, but there is one thing I am certain of…_

_We're not going down without a fight!_

_Signing off,_

_Tajiri __Satoshi  


* * *

_

Heh, even teachers can be perverted sometimes! I really hope you guys enjoyed this arc! Here's something interesting: What do you guys think Yuuki's secret is? I bet I'll like all of your answers. Oh, and a few shout outs. First, to all of my wonderful reviewers who liked this story and kept me going! It's all thanks to you guys for giving me the morale to keep it going (and funny!). And I would like to thank Mikazuchi and sykilik101 for looking over my fic and being as cool as they always are! You guys rock!

Oh, and I am going to be taking a break from this fic for awhile to work on Final Destiny (trust me, you guys are going to drool over the awesomeness of that story! Chapter 3 and 4 will make sure of it). Stay tuned for more awesome chapters! And the more reviews, the better!

One more thing. I would like to know which chapter you've read so far was the funniest (or best) in your opinion?


	13. Shattered and broken

Disclaimer: A new arc, a new adventure, yet same old annoying disclaimer. I don't own Pokémon!

**WARNING**: There will be one shocking scene which may upset people at first glance. Whatever you do, KEEP READING AFTER THE SCENE! Not everything is what it seems…

* * *

Yuuki dropped lazily on his bed. A week had past since Team Tatsujin was accepted into the Bushido league ended. Even though a break from life-threatening situations was a relief, life had gotten slow. For Yuuki, the biggest challenge was trying to break up fights between Vash and Riku. Speaking of Pokémon, Kusanagi had gotten along with all of the other Pokémon very well. Kiza seemed especially fond of Kusanagi, which made Riku very irritated. All in all, life with the other Pokémon was vibrant and fun, as always. 

The ninja sat up on the bed, pondering what to do next. He finished the chores Haruka's parents wanted him to do. Since he was going to be living with Haruka for awhile, her parents decided to make good use of his presence, which he didn't mind. The only room that hadn't been cleaned was Haruka's room, and she had gone to the school's store in order to get some supplies. Haruka was going to be tired when she got home, so with an idea in mind Yuuki got off his bed and left towards Haruka's room.

Inside the room, Yuuki spent the next few minutes fixing up the place. He couldn't wait to see Haruka's face when she found her room cleaned. He was half way done when one of his Pokéball's opened by itself. It was Kusanagi! Surprised, Yuuki stumbled backwards and slammed against Haruka's desk.

"Kusanagi, how did you get out of your Pokéball?" Yuuki asked, surprised.

"I don't know. I sorta just got out. Anyway, what are you doing?" Kusanagi jumped on Haruka's bed, getting comfortable on her pillow. Yuuki picked him off the bed and placed him on his shoulder.

"I was trying to clean up Haruka's room for her. Now, it's time for you to go back in the Pokéball…" He was about the recall the Mudkip when Kusanagi pointed out something.

"Hey, what's that thing?"

"Hm? What thing?" Yuuki glanced at the direction Kusanagi pointed and saw a book. It was a green, spiral ringed notebook, one he recognized from the time where Haruka went on a "date" with Satoshi and fell asleep. Upon closer inspection, he saw the words "Diary: Touch it and die" written across the front. "A diary? Is it me or does everyone have some sort of diary?"

"A diary? Isn't that milk, eggs, cheese, and other such things?" Kusanagi asked. Yuuki chuckled lightly.

"No, that's _dairy_. A diary is a record of a person's life. Often used to reflect on the past and keep memories."

"Sounds fun. Let's see what's inside!"

"Absolutely not!" Yuuki picked up the book gingerly. "This book is private, and shouldn't be seen by anyone except the owner."

Kusanagi stared at Yuuki in confusion. "The diary is from the military?"

"No, not rank private, secret private!" Yuuki corrected. In a flash, Kusanagi jumped and caught the book in his mouth. "What are you doing? Give that back!"

A small chase erupted between Yuuki and Kusanagi. Yuuki tried to grab the book when Kusanagi jumped on the desk, but ended up missing and causing some of the books to fall. Not wanting to make too much noise, Yuuki tried his best to scoop up the falling books before they hit the ground. While he was successful in doing so, the action prevented him from moving fast enough to catch the curious mudfish Pokémon. Kusanagi opened the book and glanced at some of the pages. A look of interest appeared on Kusanagi's face as he continued to read the contents. Yuuki glanced at his Pokémon curiously as he carefully placed the fallen books back on the shelf.

"Did you see something interesting?" Yuuki asked.

"Actually…I just remembered that I can't read." Kusanagi said.

Yuuki face-faulted. With a tired sigh, he grabbed his Pokéball and recalled Kusanagi. "Jeez, what a hand full…" Yuuki grabbed the book and was about to close it when something caught is eye. The date was from the day before, and the words that caught his eye were "Satoshi" "Confess" and "Saturday". What did it mean? Why was Satoshi's name in the book?

"Having fun…?" Haruka asked flatly.

"WA!" Yuuki jumped and dropped the book in a panic. He could clearly see intense hurt and betrayal in her eyes. "No, wait! It's not what it looks like! I was just cleaning and…"

"…You know, of all the people that attend this school, you were the last person I expected to do such a cruel thing…"

"But you don't understand. I wasn't trying to—"

_SLAP!_

"AH!" Yuuki stumbled back in shock, tenderly touching his red cheek. The sting from the hit was more painful than expected, bringing back memories from the time Haruka confronted him about living alone.

"Get out…" Haruka grabbed Yuuki's arm and harshly forced him out the door, causing him to tumble onto the floor. The angered mage slammed her door shut and locked it.

Yuuki got up and shuffled shamefully into his room, dropping haphazardly onto his bed. He could almost physically feel her pain. Even if it was on accident, he still felt horrible. His only hope was to apologize tomorrow and hope she didn't hate him…

The next day, Satoshi and Kasumi sat in the park area on a bench, waiting for their two other teammates. Soon enough, Yuuki and Haruka arrived. Yuuki's head was hung low while Haruka seemed normal, but serious. Haruka's eyes concentrated on her main target, Satoshi.

"Hey you two! How's it going?" Satoshi greeted cheerfully.

"Things are good." Haruka lied. Yuuki said nothing as he sighed. Ever since last night, Haruka hadn't said a single word to him. Whenever he tried to apologize or even talk to her, she would ignore him as though he didn't exist. Frankly, it was saddening as well as irritating.

"Hmm…" Kasumi watched her teammates as they talked. Yuuki was silent and melancholy, Haruka seemed normal, but was obviously angry with something, and as always, Satoshi was oblivious.

"So, what do you guys want to do today? Probably train a bit? Maybe walk around?" Satoshi asked.

"Um…Actually, there's something I would like to talk to you about, in private." Haruka requested.

"Uh, sure. Where to?"

"How about by the lake?"

"Okay. That works." Satoshi turned to Kasumi and Yuuki. "Give us a minute. We'll be back." With that, Satoshi left with Haruka for the lake. When they were out of sight, Kasumi immediately stepped up to Yuuki's face.

"Alright Yuuki, spill it. What happened between you and Haruka?" She interrogated.

Yuuki stepped back defensively. Kasumi's glare was frightening. "How could you tell? Was it that obvious?"

"From a woman's perspective, yes it was. Now tell me what's going on with you two. I barely see you two fight, and if you do, it's normally about something big. I've been keeping track for awhile now."

"You have?" Yuuki gaped in shock, "Man, if you got that kind of time, you don't have much of a life."

_POW!_

"Answer the question!" Kasumi said, seething over the comment.

Yuuki was crouched on the ground, rubbing his sore forehead. "Ow…you didn't have to punch me! Alright, I'll tell you what happened. Maybe you could help." Yuuki told Kasumi about the entire situation. "…And that's what happened."

Kasumi held her chin, pondering. "I see. You sound pretty screwed to me."

Yuuki fell over in shock. "There's gotta be something I can do! Can you help me, please?"

"Alright, alright, keep your shirt on. I'll help. After Haruka is done talking with Satoshi, I'll try to get Haruka to listen, alright?"

"Thanks a bunch! You're the best!" Yuuki was about to hug Kasumi out of gratitude when Kasumi stopped him by pushing his forehead.

"Don't forget, I still don't like guys. We're a team, and if one of our teammates is in bad spirits, than the whole group will suffer. I'm only doing this to help us out, so don't get too excited."

"Oh. That reminds me, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"You said you don't like guys, so does that mean you're a—"

"Say it and I'll rip out your spinal cord and strangle you with it!" Kasumi threatened. Yuuki backed off and chuckled nervously.

"Never mind then! Let's just go and find Haruka and Satoshi." Yuuki and Kasumi went after the remaining two teammates. It took a few minutes, but the two managed to find Satoshi and Haruka. Kasumi's eyes widened as she immediately grabbed Yuuki and hid behind a nearby tree. The scenery, the position, Haruka's serious look, she was going to confess to Satoshi! If Kasumi's guess was right, Satoshi would reject Haruka and cause the girl to go to Yuuki. The fighter and ninja listened carefully from a safe distance.

With Satoshi, he felt apprehensive. Had something unexpected happened earlier? What was she going to tell him? Whatever it was, he was about to find out.

"Satoshi…?" Haruka spoke, gaining his attention.

"What's up?"

Haruka took a deep breath before continuing. This was it. Her late nights of pondering and decision making, it all came down to this moment. She would not fail! "I wanted to tell you this for a long time, but with the past complications, I never got the chance...nor the courage." She paused for a beat, making sure Satoshi was listening to her, which he was. "Ever since the first time I saw you, I felt there was something special about you. Your charisma, humor, personality, everything you are always appealed to me, but nothing more than your heart. You are so wonderful and great, the one person who I know I can always be with…forever." To Satoshi's surprise, Haruka gently grasp his hands within her own. Her eyes were cast downward, a tinge of pink on her cheeks. "Satoshi, I want you to know that I love you, and I hope you feel the same."

From behind the tree, Yuuki clenched his teeth as he gripped tightly on the tree trunk above his head. Kasumi was glad that wasn't her arm, since the trunk was being crushed under the pressure, just like Yuuki's heart.

Satoshi closed his eyes, letting Haruka's words sink in. Those were truly beautiful words. It was surprising and heartwarming. He opened his eyes and looked down on Haruka, who stared intently into his eyes, awaiting his answer. He had one in mind. "Haruka, you must have spent a lot of time thinking about this, and honestly, I'm glad you finally told me." It was Haruka's turn to be surprised when Satoshi embraced her. "And now it's my turn to tell you how I feel. I love you too."

Haruka gasped sharply, her eyes watering with happiness. She was so happy, she didn't know what to do, except wrap her arms around Satoshi. "Thank goodness…" She sniffed, crying.

Kasumi stared at the scene in absolute shock. That was not supposed to happen! Then again, she made a fatal miscalculation. Satoshi's heart was foreign territory to her. Her Pokémon did warn her about this, and since she overlooked the matter, the plan failed. But…why did she feel so…angry?

_Snap!_

Kasumi jumped and was about to yell at Yuuki for making noise when she stepped back cautiously. The look on Yuuki's face…it was menacing! Come to think of it, she never seen Yuuki angry before, but the look he had was beyond anger, almost as if he was going to kill someone at any moment. Kasumi felt fear at that moment, but shook it off when Yuuki's face changed to depression. Seeing enough, Yuuki dropped the now crushed branch and walked off. Kasumi was about to follow suit when her instincts told her to listen further, and did so.

After a few moments, Haruka released her embrace and smiled warmly at Satoshi. "I'm so glad you felt the same way I did!"

Satoshi smiled as well. "I know. For the first time, I really feel like I can call you sister! This is so great!"

"UGH!" Kasumi fell over in shock. Now that was something she didn't expect! Just how stupid was Satoshi?

Haruka's smile dropped as she stepped away from Satoshi, staring in surprise. "S…s…sister? You think of me as your sister?"

"Yeah! I mean, what else is there? You always gave me the impression of the great little sister I never had."

"Wait…so when you said that you loved me…you meant as a brother you loved me?"

"Yeah." Satoshi nodded. Haruka felt her heart breaking in two. Her hopes were building up, just to break down just as quickly. Suddenly, she bolted away from Satoshi, tears flowing down her face like no tomorrow. "Haruka? What's wrong? HARUKA!" Satoshi called after. He was about to run after her when something caught the corner of his eye, or rather someone. "Kasumi? What are you doing here?"

Kasumi sighed as she casually leaned against the tree. "Oh nothing, just standing here, thinking WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?" She shouted suddenly.

Satoshi jumped back in surprise, taken back by her fierce words. "What did I do wrong?"

"Don't you get it? She didn't love you as a sister, but something a lot more than that! Just when I thought you couldn't possibly be any denser, you prove me wrong by a mile!"

Satoshi tiled his head in confusion. "That can't be right. I'm pretty sure Haruka likes Yuuki, so when she said that, I didn't think she liked me in that way."

Kasumi blinked, mildly surprised. "Wait…so since you thought she liked Yuuki, you considered her love for you to be sister like?"

"Yeah."

"I see…" Now things were beginning to make sense! The situation was just one big misunderstanding! While Satoshi was still a dense idiot, he actually made some sense. But now, Yuuki and Haruka were torn by the confusion. The only thing left was to rectify the situation before it was too late. "Come on Satoshi! First, let's find Yuuki. He was listening to the conversation up to the point where you said you loved Haruka. He thinks you meant it in a different way." Kasumi tugged onto Satoshi as the two broke into a run.

"Yuuki was listening too?" Satoshi's eyes narrowed at Kasumi. "Isn't it kinda rude to eavesdrop on people?"

"Yeah, yeah, just keep running!"

Yuuki was walking through the school courtyard, hands in his pocket. Today just wasn't his day. He lost Haruka…forever. Where did he go wrong? He told her his feelings, but she rejected them. Now her heart belongs to Satoshi, and there was nothing he could do about it…

Without realizing it, Yuuki ended up in one of the more secluded areas of the school. He was about to turn back when a dozen class A thugs surrounded him. "Hey kid, are you lost and can't find your mommy? Give us all your stuff and _maybe_ we'll help you find her. Hehehe…" The samurai was irritated when Yuuki didn't respond. "Yo, punk! Don't ignore me!"

"…" Yuuki didn't move an inch.

"Oh, so you're gonna pretend we don't exist now? LET'S GET HIM!" All 12 men charged at Yuuki, readying their weapons to strike.

Yuuki said nothing as he grabbed his sword…

Satoshi and Kasumi ran around the school for over 30 minutes, but still didn't see Yuuki anywhere. After asking a few students who were passing by, they went towards the area Yuuki disappeared to. When they turned at one of the corners, they nearly fell back in horror, feeling sick to their stomach. Corpses littered the confined area, lying in the pool of their own blood. The bodies were horribly disfigured and many of their faces were etched with terrified expressions. In the middle of the collection was Yuuki, who was on his knees, covered with blood and a few scratches. Satoshi and Kasumi ran next to him and helped him stand.

"My god…Yuuki, are you alright? What happened?" Kasumi asked, still disturbed with the horribly desecrated bodies.

"They…surrounded me and tried to kill me, but then they started fighting amongst themselves and ended up killing each other. A few of them tried to kill me, but I…I…I didn't mean too. I mean, I had no choice and—"

"It's okay Yuuki, I understand." Kasumi hushed him, not wanting to make him relive the experience. "Let's get you to the medical room and let security handle the situation."

Yuuki shook his head. "No, it's alright. I'm not hurt. Go ahead and call security, I'll just go home and change clothes…"

"Not by yourself." Satoshi slung Yuuki's arm around his shoulder and lifted him up. "Kasumi, can you notify security while I take Yuuki home? And if you find Haruka, tell her about what's going on, alright?"

"Okay. I'm going." Kasumi ran off to find security personnel while Satoshi took Yuuki home.

"Yuuki! What on earth happened to you?" Caroline cried frantically, seeing Yuuki covered in blood. Normu was equally shocked.

"A couple of thugs tried to attack Yuuki at one of the secluded areas. Luckily, they started fighting each other and ended up dying. Yuuki had to fend for himself as well." Satoshi told them. "Kasumi left to file a report about the incident already. Now all that remains is to get Yuuki washed up."

"Um…y-yeah. Thanks Satoshi." Yuuki said. He gathered a fresh pair of clothes and left for the shower. Satoshi bid Normu and Caroline farewell as he left for his own house. Inside, he saw Shigeru and told him everything that happened, from Haruka's confession to Yuuki's encounter.

"That's pretty serious. At least Yuuki is safe and sound." Shigeru leaned back in his chair.

"Shigeru-san, you don't seemed too surprise about all of this. Did you know ahead of time?" Satoshi inquired.

"…No. There was no way I could guess something like this would happen." Shigeru straightened himself and gazed at Satoshi seriously. "Tell me little brother; do you think his story about the guys killing themselves in confusion is true?"

"Well, yeah. I don't see why he would lie about something like that. Why do you ask?"

"Hmm…" Shigeru closed his eyes and propped up his chin on his fist. According to what Satoshi told him, those thugs were probably from one of the many gangs that exist in the Gaetia region. Quite a few of them were students from the school. Shigeru was no fool. There was no possible way the group would start fighting each other that way. Ever since the day Yuuki got back the moonstone from Tazuma, he was suspicious about the ninja. There was definitely something that kid was hiding, something dangerous… "No reason, just wanted to see your opinion on the situation. Say, I'm gonna go out for a bit. When Kasumi gets back, just relax here with her for a bit."

"Where are you going Nii-sama?"

"Just out. Nothing special." Shigeru got up and left the apartment, leaving Satoshi curious. Something was definitely on Shigeru's mind. Raigeki emerged from Satoshi's room and jumped on the table.

"Hey, I heard you talk about what happened. That's some seriously messed up stuff."

Satoshi scratched behind Raigeki's ear, sighing. "I know what you mean. It was scary seeing so much blood and bodies around. I'm surprise Yuuki is still alive after all of that. Then, there's the situation between Haruka and Yuuki." He sighed, "Today is getting more and more complicated."

"I still think that was pretty lame of you to say that to Haruka.You suck."

"Hey, I do not! How was I supposed to guess that?"

"It's not that difficult if you actually thought about it. You have to know that the female species take the word love seriously. While love has many definitions, females prioritize the meaning where two souls have strong feelings for each other."

Satoshi stared at the Pikachu in amazement. "Wow, you sure know some pretty deep stuff!"

"Actually, I was reading this article from the magazine, titled "Idiots who don't understand love". I think you fit the description quite well." Raigeki pointed to the said title in the magazine.

Satoshi promptly face-faulted. "I'm trying to be serious!" He yelled.

"I know, but the thing is, you just gotta learn from your mistakes. I know Zohl and Makyura would say the same thing."

"Yeah, I know…" Satoshi placed his head in his arms tiredly, "I still don't get it…"

"Then perhaps you need to pay more attention." A voice spoke.

Satoshi looked up at the visitor who entered through the door. "Oh, hey Kasumi. How did it go with the security?"

"They're investigating the scene now. They will get in touch with Yuuki later to question him about the incident."

"That's good. My brother went out for awhile and told me to watch over the house. Wanna stay over for awhile?"

"Sure. Let's wait a few hours, until Yuuki's questioning is done. By that time, Haruka would probably calm down a bit, so we can clear up this mess."

A few hours past, and Shigeru made a few stops at different apartments, asking questions. Upon his final destination, he arrived in the teacher's area and saw Mathisu walking the halls. He immediately went up to the teacher.

"Mathisu-sama, just the person I was looking for!" Shigeru called. Mathisu turned around and greeted the class S samurai.

"Ah, Shigeru. Is something the matter?"

"There's something important I need to discuss with you. It's about Yuuki. Can we go somewhere private? Perhaps your apartment?"

Mathisu nodded. "Sure. Follow me." He led Shigeru to his residence, which was a little bigger than the student dorms. There, Shigeru explained his concern about Yuuki and the events that happened pertaining to the mysterious ninja.

"…So as you can see, even I am starting to know something stinks about him. I don't know how secret this is, but if you can tell me everything you can about Yuuki, it can probably help." Mathisu was quiet, pondering whether to tell Shigeru truth about Yuuki. His only fear was how Shigeru would react to knowing about it.

"It might be best if you told him the truth. The boy deserves to know, especially since his brother is involved." Sabrina suggested, sitting next to her husband.

Mathisu sighed in defeat. There was no avoiding it. "So be it. Shigeru, I will tell you the truth about Yuuki, but promise me you won't act hastily about it."

"…Okay, I promise."

"Alright…" Mathisu told Shigeru everything about Yuuki, including his past, secret, and family…

Night had fallen over Arcadia. Satoshi sighed in boredom as he slumped on the couch next to a sleeping Kasumi. He called Haruka's apartment a few times, but Haruka hadn't showed up yet. Yuuki made it home about an hour ago and told Satoshi that the case was cleared and he was released. So far, nothing else happened. Kasumi got tired and fell asleep while talking to Satoshi.

"I wonder where Shigeru is. He's been gone for a few hours now…" Satoshi wondered. As he leaned his head back on the couch, Kasumi shifted and her head landed on Satoshi's lap, startling him. "Wha…? Oh man, if Shigeru catches us like this, I'll never hear the end of it." Satoshi grimaced when Kasumi started making herself comfortable on his lap. That made it harder for him to move her. He slowly grasped her arms and moved her vertically. When he finally got her to sit up on the couch, she held onto his shoulder and laid her head on it. Satoshi gave up a few minutes later, letting her rest against him. Luckily, Zohl was in his Pokéball and Raigeki was resting inside his room, decreasing his chance of embarrassment.

Taking a small glance at the sleeping red head, he couldn't help but release a small chuckle. "She's actually pretty cute when she isn't awake and violent…"

_THWAP!_

"Ow…" Satoshi's head reeled back when Kasumi unconsciously uppercutted his chin. "Jeez, she beats me up even when she's asleep! She must have a secret obsession with beating the crap outta me." Starting to feel tired, he yawned and leaned his head against Kasumi's, not that he wanted to do that. He was too sleepy to care. Just as Satoshi fell asleep, Raigeki stepped out of Satoshi's room and caught Satoshi sleeping with Kasumi.

"I think Shigeru had the right idea the last time those two fell asleep together. Let's see what I can do…"

Elsewhere, Yuuki was resting on his bed, staring into space. Today's events were getting worse and worse with each incident. The sheer agony of the memory from earlier was unbearable. Sadly, he knew it was only a matter of time before _that_ happened, which would be catastrophic. He felt so lost, alone, and unwanted. Then again, what else could he do? His only real dream was shattered, his family was killed, and it was only a matter of time before the school's security realized something fishy about the story he told them. Well, it wasn't like he could tell them he killed, no, slaughtered those guys who attacked them. He would be expelled immediately. But, with the only person he loved now out of his reach forever, nothing truly mattered anymore…

_Knock! Knock! Knock!_

"Hm? Maybe Haruka?" Yuuki thought. If it was Haruka, then the least he could do was apologize about last night and get it over with. He got off his bed and opened the door, only to be surprised with the visitor. "Ayane? What are you doing here?"

"I have a message for you and your friends. Here." Ayane handed the letter to Yuuki. Yuuki opened the letter and read the contents:

_Team Tatsujin,_

_I have your precious little mage hostage. If you want her back, you must come and get her in the deepest part of the Kage forest. Bring Pokémon and weapons, but no one except yourselves. If you refuse or ignore my conditions, I'll kill the girl on the spot. Don't disappoint me…_

_Tazuma Soraga_

"Ta…zu…ma…!" Only one word could describe Yuuki's emotions at the moment: rage. No one harmed Haruka and got away with it as far as Yuuki was concerned! But, he could not save her alone. This was obviously a trap set for them. Without a second thought, he grabbed his equipment and bolted out the door towards Satoshi's dorm. Ayane said nothing as she watched Yuuki leave. She knew fully well what Tazuma had planned and felt bad for Team Tatsujin, especially Haruka and Yuuki.

After tonight, those two would never be the same again…

"…And that's everything about Yuuki." Mathisu finished.

"You got to be kidding! All of this time, my brother could've been killed by him! Why haven't you told me this earlier?" Shigeru yelled.

"Yuuki made great friends with his teammates. I thought maybe they could help get rid of Yuuki's problem. But after hearing about today, it might be that _he_ will escape…tonight…" Mathisu's brow furrowed with worry.

"Kuso…there's got to be a way to save Yuuki and my brother! If I knew this prior to his meeting with Satoshi, I would've killed him on the spot, but Yuuki is a great kid. Sorry, but I got to go!" Shigeru stood up and was about to dash out the door when he stopped midway. "And don't worry, I promise not to bring harm to Yuuki unless it is too late. I'll try to save him if it is possible."

"Please try. Let me know if you need any help in the matter."

"I will." Shigeru nodded before dashing out the door, praying for his brother's safety.

* * *

Things are getting exciting. The next chapter will end the suspense regarding Yuuki, because the dark secret will be revealed! Also, the next chapter is both a favorite of mine and the one chapter I've been dying to write since I started this fic, so you can expect it to be exciting. It will be VERY intense and guaranteed to make your jaw drop. See you there! 

Oh, and the more reviews the better, since it would encourage me to write the next chapter faster. I'm so psyched for the next chapter! Can't wait!'

Nii-sama – big brother

-sama – A Japanese suffix, meaning "Mr." or "Mrs.". Formal.


	14. The beast

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, but any and all original characters and plotline I do own. Wow…a regular disclaimer. That's new.

This is the moment everyone's been waiting for! This will probably be the most shocking chapter in BL for awhile. Enjoy!

**WARNING:** This chapter contains graphic violence, a lot of blood, torment, and death. You have been warned… (This is the main reason this fic is rated T)

* * *

"Put this here…move this there…and…done!" Raigeki stepped back and chuckled madly, gazing upon his amazing work of art. Because of Raigeki's small stature, there wasn't much he could do, but this was more than enough. Satoshi's arm was wrapped loosely around Kasumi while his forehead rested against hers. The best part was where Satoshi's hand was and how close his lips were to hers. Raigeki noticed Satoshi stirring and hid himself, but made sure to not miss a second of the fun. 

Satoshi's eyes slowly opened, soon finding himself in a dangerous position. His mind froze while his heart was beating a mile a minute. He couldn't guess how he ended up in such a position. Also, he felt his hand holding onto something soft and warm. He was about to look to see where his hand was when he felt Kasumi shift in her sleep. Glancing down, her lips were practically centimeters away. His heart was pounding loudly. So loudly, it felt like he would suffocate. Quickly, he turned his face, not wanting to tempt himself into doing something that could cost him his life. But…she was asleep, right? The warm feeling in his hand was somehow persuading him to do the unthinkable. Starting to feel a bolder, he turned back around to give it one more shot…when he found her eyes wide open and staring directly at him.

"I was awake, you know…" Kasumi said flatly.

Satoshi sweat-dropped in fear, speechless. When he saw what his hand was holding, he blanched considerably. The soft warm thing he was holding was Kasumi's breast. 'Oh…snap…'

_CRACK!_

Kasumi landed a crushing blow to Satoshi's jaw, shooting him out of the couch and onto the floor. Not wasting any time, Kasumi lunged after the samurai. "YOU HENTAI! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"

"WAAAAA—ACK!" Satoshi gasped, being strangled by the enraged martial artist. Raigeki was rolling with laughter. This was just too funny! Now he just hoped Satoshi wouldn't die from lack of oxygen…

Just then, Yuuki opened the door and went towards the living room. He was about to tell his teammates the news when he stopped dead in his tracks, his jaw dropping. From his viewpoint, Kasumi was sitting on top of Satoshi, and all he could see was her back.

"Why…is it…so hard…?" Kasumi growled, trying to break Satoshi's neck.

"Too…much…gonna die…!" Satoshi gasped desperately for air.

Yuuki continued to stare in shock. They were doing THAT at a time like this? Some people were way too impulsive… "Um…guys? Sorry to interrupt your…thing, but I got urgent news!"

Kasumi glanced behind to see Yuuki with an alarmed, yet disturbed, expression and immediately stopped choking Satoshi. "What's wrong Yuuki?" She asked, standing up.

Yuuki sighed in relief when he noticed the two weren't doing _that_. "It's about Haruka. Tazuma kidnapped her!"

"WHAT?" Satoshi and Kasumi exclaimed. They read the letter and seethed in anger. Tazuma was obviously still angry about his failure to get the moonstone and most likely planned a trap for them. Since Tazuma told them to bring weapons and Pokémon, a battle was imminent.

"Kasumi, do you have your Pokémon and gear with you?" Satoshi inquired. Kasumi nodded and pointed to her combat staff and Pokébelt. "Good. Raigeki!"

"Don't worry. I'm already on it." Raigeki carefully balanced Satoshi's training katana on his back and carried it to him.

"Thanks. Come on guys, let's hurry and save Haruka. Be prepared for anything!" Satoshi led Kasumi and Yuuki towards the Kage forest. Before he left, Satoshi carefully placed the letter on the living room table, so Shigeru could spot it and know the situation.

A few minutes later, Team Tatsujin made it to the Kage forest. Kage forest was the proper name for it since it was especially treacherous during the night. The only light was from the moon above. The dangers were unknown, but the gang had no choice. They had to go and save Haruka! Before they could enter the forest, three combatants emerged from the entrance, blocking their path.

"If you want your friend back, you're going to have to go through us!" The one in the middle challenged.

"Curses. They obviously planned this from the start." Satoshi unsheathed his weapon and prepared to attack. These guys were class B like Satoshi and the rest. "There's not much time. We're gonna have to take them out, fast!"

Raigeki's cheeks crackled with electrical energy, ready to fight. "Let's do it!" Satoshi and his team charged at the combatants. Satoshi swiftly tripped Combatant A with a low slash attack and slammed down with his sword. Combatant A recovered and brandished his katana as well.

_BASH!_

"Oof!" Combatant A gasped, getting a head butt attack from Raigeki. Satoshi took this chance to slash him several times before finishing him off with a back flip kick, knocking him unconscious.

Kasumi took on Combatant B in hand-to-hand combat. Though Combatant B was fairly strong, he couldn't lay a hand on the swift and skilled Kasumi. Kasumi swung her left hook and connected with his jaw. Combatant B rebounded with a shoulder shove, pushing Kasumi back. The enemy tried to punch Kasumi when she caught the attack and countered by slamming him on the ground. Before he could get up, Kasumi kneeled over and punched him in the face, ensuring he was out cold.

Out of the three teammates, Yuuki was the most aggressive and motivated. The enemy was down on the ground in seconds flat. Yuuki sheathed his sword and ushered his friends to hurry ahead. There was a lot of ground to cover. As the group traveled deeper into the dark forest, a large group of class B brutes emerged from the sides, clutching Pokéballs in their hands.

"You guys aren't going anywhere! We got you surrounded!" One of the thugs barked.

"He's got a point. The only path is forward." Satoshi glanced back to see more coming from behind. This must have meant Tazuma and Haruka were ahead. Only one person could make it in time. "Yuuki, go ahead of us to find Haruka! Kasumi and I will take care of these goons."

Yuuki scanned around. There had to be at least 20 enemies, each with two Pokémon ready to fight. The odds were way in the enemy's favor. "But there're too many of them…"

"Don't worry about us, we can handle this. What's important is that you find Haruka! Hurry before it's too late!" Kasumi rushed. Yuuki hesitated for a moment, but finally agreed.

"Alright. Stay alive you two!" Yuuki turned on his heels and dashed deeper into the forest, leaving his friends behind.

Satoshi smiled as he stood back-to-back with Kasumi. "Wow…they really do out number us by a lot. I'm not even sure if we can survive this…"

"So you're going to back out now?" Kasumi inquired, enlarging her two Pokéballs.

"Fat chance! Not when we're so close to the Bushido league!" Satoshi took out Zohl's Pokéball and activated it, preparing to summon. "Kasumi? There's something I've been dying to tell you for awhile now…"

Kasumi grew curious. "Oh? What is it?"

"Kasumi…I want to you know that I…think you're hot."

Kasumi blushed, but smiled at the compliment. "Finally, something original from you." She released her two Pokémon, as did the enemy, who were slowly advancing. "While we're on the subject, I think you have what it takes to be a complete heartthrob. You're pretty attractive and cute."

"Thanks." Satoshi released Zohl and watched as the thugs took out their weapons. They were about to charge. "Say…you're not going to ask me out next, are you? That would be pretty cliché."

"Don't get cocky. I said I think you're cute, I didn't say I like you like that."

"…Touché. Well, here they come. …Ready?"

"Steady…?"

"GO!" They both shouted, lunging at the opposition.

Yuuki had his own group of enemies, but mainly one or two enemies. Several minutes passed until he finally reached the center of the forest. There, he saw Tazuma and Haruka. Haruka's eyes were hollow and lifeless as she was bounded to a thick tree. Yuuki noticed Tazuma's right eye had an eye patch over it and a few scars could be seen. Tazuma stood next to Haruka, smirking smugly at Yuuki's expense. That guy was really pushing his luck!

"What did you do to her Tazuma?" Yuuki growled.

"I did nothing but hypnotized her. She put up quite the fight earlier, but with the spell I've placed on her, she's harmless. Here, how about I bring her back to reality." He turned around and pressed his two forefingers against Haruka's forehead. Suddenly, Haruka's eyes gained life and energy, bringing great relief to Yuuki. The first thing to come to Haruka's regained vision was Yuuki's concerned expression. She felt like she could cry in happiness, except the situation was still unfavorable.

"Yuuki! Get away from here! It's a trap!" Haruka yelled.

"Uh…Haruka? We kinda figured that quite awhile ago." Yuuki said.

"And I must say, I'm almost surprised you made it this far. Almost." Tazuma crossed his arms. "I think it is time for us to have a rematch. Before the night is over, I'll expose you for the monster you really are! We'll have a one on one battle. If any of your friends actually make it here and try to intervene, I'll have these guys kill Haruka on the spot." He pointed to the two thugs who held weapons standing by Haruka. "The same thing will happen if you try to rescue her without defeating me first. Now, release your Pokémon."

"Fine…" Yuuki took out his Pokéballs and summoned his four Pokémon.

Tazuma did the same for his two Pokémon, the Aggron and Gyarados. "We won't be the only ones fighting. Our Pokémon will fight each other while we fight. My Pokémon won't interfere in my fight, and neither will yours if you wish for Haruka's safety. Got it?"

"Yeah, yeah, just shut up and fight!" Yuuki snarled, prepping his sword for combat.

"My, someone is motivated to fight. That's good, now I can destroy you at your strongest! HIYAAA!" Tazuma suddenly took out his katana and charged swiftly at Yuuki.

_CLANG!_

Yuuki parried the attack with his blade and jumped back, landing on one knee and hand. However, Tazuma wasn't going to let him have a moment's rest, especially after all of the damage Yuuki did to his body and psyche. It was payback time!

_SLASH!_

"Grr!" Yuuki received a slash on his chest, nonfatal yet painful. He disappeared in a flash and reappeared behind Tazuma, preparing to strike him down.

_SMACK!_

"ARGH!" Yuuki reeled back in pain, getting smacked across the face by Tazuma's sword handle. Tazuma dropped to the floor and performed a low kick, which Yuuki jumped over. In midair, Yuuki tried to slash at Tazuma, but the class S samurai was all too ready for that attack and held the blade up, blocking the attack. He pushed the blade upward, throwing Yuuki off balance. Before Yuuki could land, Tazuma kicked him in the stomach, giving him extra damage. The ninja quickly recovered, only to crouch in pain. Those few attacks from Tazuma were fierce! If he wasn't at his best, his death would come swiftly.

"Is that all you got you pathetic demon kid?" Tazuma taunted harshly.

"Hardly! HM!" Yuuki charged all of his inner chakra energy throughout his body. He could feel it. The intense strength from his years of training coming together! Yuuki ran at Tazuma, seemingly fading on and off due to his immense speed. However, as Yuuki reappeared, a copy of himself appeared and moved in a different pattern. By the time he reached Tazuma, there were at least 8 copies of Yuuki! All of them surrounded Tazuma and lunged at him.

"Hmph, child's play!" Tazuma leapt at one of the Yuuki's with his blade held backhanded. Everything seem to go in slow motion as Tazuma kneed Yuuki A's chin, turned to slash Yuuki B, dropped to the ground to avoid and slash Yuuki C and D, then back flipped over Yuuki E and stood on his shoulders. "TERRA CRUSH!" Tazuma quickly charged mana energy in his hand and punched down on Yuuki E, creating a shockwave that affected all of the remaining copies. The Yuuki copy under Tazuma disappeared due to being hit. Before landing, Tazuma charged his sword with mana power and spun in a circle. "SOUL SLASH!" He spun rapidly, creating multiple shockwaves slicing through all of the Yuuki copies. All but one of them faded to nothingness.

"Arg… how on earth did you get so strong? You weren't like this before!" Yuuki gasped, heavily injured.

Tazuma grinned as he stood up. "I didn't train and prepare before. I was foolish into thinking I was the strongest in the school. Ever since your friend's beat me a month ago, I've been training relentlessly, gathering back the skills and strength I've lost. Also, you'll find a nice surprise when you attempt to channel your chakra energy."

Yuuki struggled to stand and attempted to sum up his chakra energy. Nothing came up. He tried over and over, but nothing was happening! "Impossible! How did you do that?"

Tazuma closed his eyes and crossed his arms. "It's elementary if you spent as long as I have training. Everyone has different kinds of life energy flowing through them. Chakra, mana, chi, this is just a small sample of the different powers flowing through each of us, making up our soul. Depending on your class, you train only on one of those energies, in your case it is chakra. My Soul Slash technique severed the flow of my choosing, which just happened to be your strongest one."

"Guh…" Yuuki dropped on his knees, feeling drained. He glanced at his Pokémon, who were putting up a tough fight against Tazuma's Pokémon.

"Look alive! Our fight ain't over yet!" Tazuma yelled as he ran at Yuuki.

"Gwah!" Vash stumbled back, getting struck by Gyarados's water gun attack. "Makyura, I need some support here!"

"I'm on it! SHADOW BALL!" Makyura charged a black ball of energy in front of him and shot it at Gyarados's head. The attack landed and exploded, but the Pokémon recovered from the attack, barely phased. "Impossible! How much stronger has that Pokémon gotten?"

"I dunno, but we can't give up! What other attacks do you know?" Vash asked, dodging another stream of high pressure water from Gyarados.

"Unfortunately, I do not possess that many powerful attacks. I do have a string of good supporting ones. You'll have to be the one who takes the offensive while I support you from the side."

"Okay. That's just what I'm good at! RRAAAAHH!" Vash dodged side to side, dodging the series of water attacks from Gyarados. When close enough, Vash jumped to the Pokémon's side and leapt up to its face.

_SLASH! SLASH!_

The giant serpent howled and thrashed about as Vash landed two Slash attacks on its face.

_SMACK!_

"AAAH!" The Scyther was smacked by Gyarados's tail and sent smashing through a tree.

"Got you!" Makyura launched a series of seeds from his mouth and most of them latched onto Gyarados, draining its energy and sending it to Makyura. It was a slow process, but it would slowly debilitate the Pokémon. He noticed the serpent gathering red energy inside its mouth. "Holy…"

_WHOOSH!_

"WHOA!" Makyura barely avoided the stream of fire coming from Gyarados's mouth. The fire attack would've burned him badly if he didn't dodge it in time! "SHADOW BALL!" Makyura hovered around and shot a few rounds of Shadow Ball attacks at the Pokémon. Combining those attacks with the Leech Seed slowly drained the strength of the Pokémon. However, that alone wasn't enough to take down the powerful Pokémon. A fire attack from Gyarados struck Makyura, doing heavy damage and burning him. Gyarados was about to launch another stream of fire on the ghost Pokémon when Vash suddenly appeared before it.

"WING ATTACK!" Vash spiraled down on the enemy Pokémon, spreading his wings.

_SLASH!_

"Yes, direct hit!" Vash praised, hitting the Pokémon on the head. The attack however, did very little to injure it. "Aw man! Just how stubborn is this big lummox?"

"I have no idea, but we've got to continue to fight! For Haruka and Yuuki!" Makyura encourage, floating weakly in the air.

"I agree. Time for round two you oversized worm! HIYA!"

While the battle between Vash, Makyura and the Gyarados was proceeding, Riku and Kusanagi were having their own fight for survival against the defensive Aggron. Thanks to Riku's speed boost special ability, he was extremely hard to hit, and Kusanagi's small and agile body was able to maneuver smoothly over Aggron's powerful attacks.

"HA! HA! HA!" The Mudkip spat volleys of mud bullets against the enormous dinosaur like Pokémon.

"FURY CUTTER!" The Ninjask flew at Aggron, slashed it with his tiny claws, flew away to dodge, and then went back from another angle to attack the Pokémon. Though the attacks were barely affecting it now, Fury Cutter builds up attack each time a strike is successful. But even then, the attacks did practically nothing. "This is getting us nowhere! Yo, Kusanagi, can't you use any stronger attacks?"

Kusanagi jumped away, avoiding Aggron's Metal Claw attack. "Sorry, but I joined you guys recently. This is only my second real battle."

"Well this sucks! We need a way to take down this guy faster! I can't keep up this speed for long! WHOA!" Riku barely managed to dodge a surprising Thunderbolt attack which Aggron shot from its horn. "Since when did Aggron learn THAT?"

"Hey, if you want a way to avoid that, I have an idea! I can probably ride your back, and if Aggron ever tries to shock you, I'll absorb the shock!"

"But you're a water type! You are weak against such attacks!

"But I'm also a ground type, so I can't get hurt by electric attacks."

"Ah, you're right! Grr…fine, you can ride my back. HOWEVER, this does not make us friends, you hear me?" Riku swooped for Kusanagi, who jumped and held onto his back. Thankfully, Kusanagi was very light, which made things easier for Riku. As Riku flew around Aggron and repeatedly slashed it, Kusanagi shot Mud Shot attacks in rapid fire sessions.

With Yuuki, he was on the receiving end of a serious beat down. He was on the floor, at the mercy of Tazuma's foot, who scowled disappointingly at him. "Tch, I'm disappointed. What happened to you? Earlier, you were able to tear me to shreds. But now, you are weak and useless!" He kicked Yuuki in the ribs, making him writhe in pain. "Oh, I know! You just need some…encouragement. I know just the way." He grinned wickedly as he glanced at Haruka. Yuuki's eyes widened with shock and disgust.

"Don't…you…dare…!" Yuuki grabbed Tazuma's ankle, using whatever strength he had left to try to do something, anything! Tazuma kicked his hand away and walked towards the bounded Haruka. He ran his eyes over Haruka, smirking approvingly.

"Heh, I must admit, she's quite the piece of work. Now, how should I go about torturing her? By pain? Or maybe…pleasure and pain?"

"I would rather die than be your play thing!" Haruka spat.

"Ah, that's it! You have an annoying voice, and I'm going to get rid of it." Tazuma signaled for one of the men to grab some materials while the other held Haruka's face in place. "You are going to like this…but first…HM!" His eyes flashed, hypnotizing Haruka. However, this was different than before. Haruka was still able to tell what was real and what wasn't.

"What are you going to do with me?" Haruka growled, secretly afraid.

"I'm going to get rid of your annoying voice. Yuuki here is going to be sole witness to what I think is fitting punishment for you." Tazuma grinned madly when one of his subordinates returned. Yuuki stared at the returning man in confusion. All he brought with him was a funnel and a bucket. From what he could tell, it looked like water. Tazuma grabbed the funnel and forced it inside Haruka's mouth.

"What are you going to do, drown her?" Yuuki inquired, fearing his answer. Tazuma's grin couldn't grow any wider.

"You wish. I placed a special spell on her. You see this bucket here? This is ordinary water, but to her…" Tazuma grabbed the bucket and gently pressed it against Haruka's bare arm. Haruka winced in great pain. "To her, this will feel like molten lava! HeheheheheHAHAHAHAA!"

Yuuki paled in horror. He knew exactly what he was going to do to her! "You…you sick bastard!"

"Bingo! Trust me, you are going to feel every inch of pain you've inflicted to me ten fold!" Tazuma warned one of the thugs to hold the funnel and Haruka's head in place tightly. Haruka stared at the bucket with a terrified expression, streams of tears flowing down her face. She desperately tried to break free or even move, but the thug held her face too tightly. "Oh, and just to let you know, I've put a special seal in your mind. You won't be able to fall unconscious from the pain. Man, I really wouldn't want to be in your position right now." He raised the bucket over the funnel, preparing to permanently scourge Haruka's mind.

"NO, WAIT!" Yuuki cried out. Tazuma paused, but still kept the bucket in place. "P-please…don't do it. I beg of you…please don't do this to her. She doesn't deserve it. I was the one to injure you back then, so this is my fault. I'll do anything, so please…stop…" This was just too much! Even the remote chance of such a terrible thing happening to Haruka was mind-numbing.

"Is that so? Then first, recall your Pokémon." Tazuma smirked when Yuuki did what he said. Seeing Yuuki at his mercy felt great, almost too great. "Now repeat after me: I am nothing but a servant. I am your slave and yours only. Please heed my feeble cry and spare the woman from her divine punishment!"

"I…I…" It was too humiliating. Yuuki just couldn't get the words out.

"I feel my hands slipping…" Tazuma tilted the bucket, scaring both Haruka and Yuuki.

Yuuki stared directly at Haruka. He could tell she was trying to tell him not to do it, but what choice did he have? "I…am nothing but a servant! I am your slave and yours only! Please heed my feeble cry and spare the woman from her divine punishment!" Yuuki bowed to give it extra effect, hoping it would work.

'Yuuki…' Haruka thought sadly. Never did she ever see him look so humiliated. She felt terrible for putting him through this.

"HAHAHA! Well this is just wonderful. You have appeased your master, and therefore, I shall grant your request…" Tazuma lowered the bucket… "…PSYCHE!" He quickly brought it back up and poured the contents down the funnel!

"AH…no!" Yuuki stared in absolute horror. The look off ultimate pain and suffering on Haruka's face tore him up beyond imagination. He continued to stare, frozen stiff for the full 30 seconds Tazuma poured the water down the poor girl's throat. Tazuma laughed maniacally when he was finished. Haruka's head drooped, her eyes continued to stay wide open. That pain would forever scar her mind. Even the thugs felt sorry for her.

"Hey boss, we got two more visitors for ya!" A grunt from afar spoke. Tazuma smiled with delight when two bounded teens and a Pikachu were dropped unceremoniously next to Yuuki. It was Satoshi, Kasumi and Raigeki! They were heavily bruised, but otherwise okay. Raigeki was unconscious.

"Oh, too bad. You two just missed the best part!" Tazuma said, pointing to Haruka, whose face was frozen in intense pain.

Satoshi looked up and glared at Tazuma. "What did you do to her?"

"Don't ask me. If anything, you should ask Yuuki. That is, if he has gotten over his humiliating defeat yet."

Kasumi glanced at Yuuki. He was definitely devastated by something, but what was it? "Yuuki, what did Tazuma do?" No reponse. "…Yuuki? Are you alright?"

Yuuki slowly stood up. He wasn't going to let Tazuma get away with this. His arms hung limp as a noticeable, yet strange smile appeared on his face. "…Heh…hehehe…hehehehehe…" Yuuki chuckled ominously. Satoshi and Kasumi were shocked with his voice and creepy laughter. What was going on?

"Feh, what a pity. It looks like he's gone insane. You," Tazuma pointed to one of his men, "Do me a favor and get rid of that garbage. I had my fun with him."

"Yes sir!" The grunt walked up to Yuuki and raised his sword. He was about to strike him down when Yuuki's hand shot at the man's neck and held it in a vice grip.

"…Perish…"

_SNAP!_

Everyone fell silent and stared in surprise at Yuuki, who just broke the man's neck single handedly. Yuuki let go of the corpse, his arm still in place. Slowly, he started to chuckle lightly, which soon turned into a demonic laughter of insanity.

Satoshi was officially freaked. Why was he laughing at a time like this? Especially when he just killed someone. "Yuuki? W-what's wrong?" Yuuki didn't answer, but continued to laugh. "Yuuki, can you hear me?"

Yuuki slowly stopped laughing. "Yuuki? Who is this Yuuki you speak of? Perhaps that weakling you saw earlier?"

"Ah, so you finally reveal your true self!" Tazuma stated, pointing at Yuuki.

"True self? What are you talking about?" Kasumi inquired, spooked.

"The Yuuki you knew of before was only a veil, hiding the true evil!" Tazuma unsheathed his sword, readying himself for a fight.

"Yuuki, is that true…?" Satoshi asked. Yuuki paused before answering.

"…I am getting sick and tired of hearing about that weakling. Now…it's been awhile since I've had it…" He slowly raised his head, shocking his teammates. Yuuki's hair was wilder than normal, and his eyes screamed bloodlust and madness. Yuuki gazed hungrily at the thugs behind Satoshi and Kasumi. "Who will be first to offer me their blood?" He licked his lips, which caused some of the thugs to back up cautiously.

"What are you waiting for? Kill him!" Tazuma commanded. All of the thugs charged at Yuuki, who grinned maliciously.

"So all of you are volunteering? This will just be like earlier today…" With quick speed, he dashed to one of the grunts and cocked his hand into a claw-like form. With one thrust, his hand went through the man's chest, immense amount of blood flowing through the opening. Yuuki removed his blood stained hand and licked the blood off his finger tips. "Hehehehe….more….more….MORE!" In a mad frenzy, he dashed to another thug and slashed open his neck with his bare hands! Another brute was about to attack him when Yuuki flicked the man's forehead with his hand, and just as quickly stole his sword and slashed him so hard that he sliced through him, cutting him in half! "Kill…kill…kill…" He grabbed another sword on the ground and charged at the remaining men in a craze! "Kill! KILL! **KILL**! MWUAHAHAHAHA!"

_SLASH! GASH! SLICE!_

Yuuki blitzed through the ranks of grunts, desecrating and killing them without any means of mercy. Satoshi and Kasumi watched Yuuki, horrified, but none was more terrified than Haruka. The thugs who were left started fleeing in terror. "CRUSH! KILL! DESTORY!" Yuuki chased after the fleeting men and slaughtered them, being sure to make their deaths as painful and gruesome as possible. After killing off the last one, Yuuki turned his attention to the last one standing, Tazuma. "You're next…" He started taking slow, daunting steps towards Tazuma, who was petrified.

"G-Gyarados, Aggron, attack!" Tazuma commanded. The two Pokémon ran at Yuuki, intending to crush him.

"Very nice…I suppose human blood gets tiring after awhile…" Something started happening with Yuuki. The chakra energy sealed by Tazuma was broken, but not just that. Black, slightly transparent chains appeared around Yuuki and shattered to pieces. A powerful aura emanated from his body, a dark power unknown to Tazuma.

"Im…impossible!" Tazuma exclaimed.

"I think this is what one of your little friends called the GS limit break. It's time to show you how death should be done!" Yuuki disappeared before the Pokémon could attack him. Everyone was shocked when Yuuki suddenly appeared on top of Gyarados's head. One of the swords in Yuuki's hand was being filled was so much chakra energy it almost shattered. Yuuki stabbed the Pokémon's forehead with the sword and released the energy, causing half of Gyarados's body to explode with huge amounts of body parts and blood. The moment Yuuki landed, he practically teleported and reappeared in front of Aggron. "You are of no use…" He filled his body with immense chakra energy and lifted the Pokémon with his bare hands! "BE GONE!" Yuuki released the energy, shooting a shotgun-like blast of energy, blowing a hole through Aggron's armored chest! Blood rained on the battlefield, victory in Yuuki's favor. He trembled in excitement when he glanced down on his blood drenched body and hands.

Haruka was frozen in fear. She had never seen such an evil side of him before. Was this really the secret he was hiding? If so, it was for good reason. Wait…it was all coming together! The journal that spoke of another person, the reason he lived by himself, the strange block in his mind, and his murderous behavior back when her sisters still lived with her. How stupid was she to miss that? Yuuki…had a dark personality! She was too frightened to even speak. What kind of monster had he become?

Tazuma clenched his teeth. That demon killed his Pokémon! "I've waited so long for this! I will kill you and avenge my Pokémon! HAA!" He ran at Yuuki, ready to kill him.

Yuuki sighed. "This again? Didn't you learn your lesson from the last time? I'll refresh your memory."

_SHATTER!_

Yuuki swung his sword so hard it destroyed both his and Tazuma's katana. Before Tazuma could even blink, Yuuki stabbed his shoulder and embedded the sword in the ground, immobilizing Tazuma. "Hehehe…now, if I recall correctly, not only did you humiliate my weaker counterpart, but you dared to torture Haruka in front of me? Only the most fitting punishment is worthy for you, and I'll be the one to do it!" Yuuki pulled the blade out, causing Tazuma to howl in agony.

"Damn you Yuuki! I won't let you get away with this!" Tazuma snarled. Yuuki stabbed one of his arms, making him yelp in pain again.

"How many times are you fools going to call me by that stupid name? I am not the weakling you know as Yuuki, but I am Shiroku, your executioner." Shiroku repeated stabbed at several spots of Tazuma's body and severed several limps. The pain was so intense Tazuma fainted. "I don't think so!" He slammed his palms on Tazuma's chest, giving him enough life energy to regain consciousness. "Now, now, I wasn't quite done with you yet. Surely you can't be tortured properly if you slept through it. MWUAHAHAA!" Yuuki stomped on Tazuma's mortal wounds and slashed at him at the same time.

"Oh god…make it stop! Please…HAVE MERCY!" Tazuma cried, both petrified and in extreme misery.

"DIE, BLEED, SUFFER, WRITHE IN DESPAIR LIKE THE PATHETIC WORM YOU ARE! HAHAHAHAHAAAA!" Shiroku tore into Tazuma's body like a rabid animal, ripping off any excess limbs and muscle tissue he desire, which was almost everything that would cause Tazuma instant death. Just when Tazuma was moments from dying, Shiroku would heal him enough to keep him alive for awhile longer. After several minutes of torture, he was finally satisfied with the damage. "Now, before you go off to hell, remember this as you meet death: No one but me has the right to kill Haruka!" With a final slash to the head, Tazuma was dead.

"Ah…never had I felt so wonderful. The fresh smell of blood…it thrills me to no end…" Shiroku sighed. His attention was turned to Haruka, who was frightened by the look he was giving her. "Now, you are the only obstacle left in my path for freedom." He picked up the stained blade and slowly walked up to Haruka. "The look of fear in your eyes…it brings back memories. You really should've let me kill your sisters back then. Unfortunately, you are a stupid mortal, so it couldn't be avoided. I truly despise your existence. Everything about you offends me. But once I kill you, I will finally be at peace."

"But the question is, can you really do it?" A voice said. Everyone turned to see a black haired man endowed in black and red thick Chinese armor, complete with a black cape and long katana. He had mysterious, yet frightening brown eyes.

Shiroku held his chin as he scrutinized the man. "Let's see…cool looking armor, mysterious yet smooth appearance out of nowhere, am I correct to assume that you're the infamous Saito?"

"That is correct Shiroku." Saito chuckled, "I saw everything from start to finish. I'm glad you found my son to be entertaining. I hope you liked my plan to bring you out of your shell."

"Oh? So all of this was orchestrated by you just to get me? And you sacrificed your own son to do it? I'm flattered." Shiroku shrugged.

"Hahaha, if only it was that simple. My main wish is to show you true power. If you join me, I can help overcome that one weakness of yours."

"Tch, I don't need your help! I have plenty of power!" Shiroku disappeared and reappeared behind Saito. Just when he was about to strike, Saito caught the blade with his forefingers and broke it in half!

"Don't take me for a weakling like Tazuma."

_POW!_

"AH!" Shiroku gasped, receiving a powerful blow to the stomach. Saito carefully administered enough strength just to prove a point, not to knock him out.

"I know your real weakness. No matter how hard you try, at this stage, you could never kill Haruka."

"Feh, is that so? I'll prove that I can!" Shiroku grabbed his ninja sword on the ground and ran at Haruka. Just when it looked like he was going to kill her, the blade stopped centimeters from her head. Shiroku was…trembling! No matter how many times he tried, he couldn't go the extra distance. "…Okay, so I do have a small problem. I'm surprised you know so much about me."

Saito smiled amusingly. "Trust me young Shiroku. I know more about you than you could possibly fathom." He extended his hand to Shiroku. "Now, will you join me in the quest to gain ultimate power?"

Shiroku thought about it for a moment, and then grinned. "Why not? Let's see what you can do. Don't disappoint me."

"Don't worry, I won't. Be assured of that." When Shiroku gripped Saito's hand, a swirl of energy surrounded them. Saito glanced at Satoshi and Kasumi, who were completely speechless. "Satoshi, I know you well. Train to become a great samurai. Should you fail, your death would only be meaningless. Oh, and thanks for being the one person to help break the seal on Shiroku, setting him free. Until next we meet." Saito and Shiroku disappeared in the energy, teleport somewhere far away.

Just then, Shigeru and Sakura appeared, panting from all of the running they did. They gasped in shock at the sight. Satoshi, Kasumi, and Haruka were bounded by ropes and death filled the entire area. Shigeru immediately ran to Satoshi's aid, just as Sakura did for Kasumi.

"Satoshi, are you alright?" Shigeru asked frantically, undoing the bindings.

Satoshi weakly glanced at Shigeru. "Nii-sama, don't worry about me. If anything, you should worry about Haruka. She's in worse shape then all of us put together…"

Shigeru glanced at Haruka and frowned. Her expression was truly depressing. Depression, hurt, sadness, pain, there wasn't a word in the world that could truly describe her expression. Sakura went towards Haruka and noticed something strange.

"She's under a hypnotized state. I'll break it." Sakura's eyes flashed and instantly broke the spell she was under. However, this didn't change her look. "Haruka, can you tell me what happened? Where's Yuuki? What did they do to you?"

"…" Haruka tried to speak, but nothing came out. She tried again, but still nothing. Sakura gasped in shock at the realization.

"Shigeru, Haruka's gone mute!"

"You serious?"

"Yeah. Whatever happened to her must've been tragic." Sakura undid the bindings on Haruka and caught her as she was falling. Haruka wasn't even trying to stand up, making things difficult for Sakura. "I'm going to go ahead and take her to the campus hospital. Can you take care of the rest here?"

"Sure thing." Shigeru helped Satoshi and Kasumi to their feet, slinging their arms over his shoulder. Satoshi and Kasumi were silent as they headed to the hospital. The things they saw tonight would never leave their minds. A new horror was unleashed…

* * *

And that's chapter 14. Pretty sick huh? Don't worry, that's the most depressing/scary/violent part for awhile. Please review and let me know what you think of the dramatic turn of events. I'm just dying to know what you think of it. 

By the way, would you believe me if I told you that wasn't the most shocking part of the story? Hehehe, just gotta wait and see…

Recommended song for Yuuki's dark revelation – The Beast – Neon genesis Evangelion

P.S. Those who had forgotten about Haruka's sisters should refer to chapter 1.


	15. Culture shock

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon, so give it up already!

* * *

"No…Yuuki, don't do it…" Satoshi tossed left and right in a bed, witnessing a nightmare. Death, blood, madness, torment, it was too much for him to take. "Stop…NO!" He sat up with a start, sweating profusely and panting. What was that horrible nightmare? It was unreal, the worse he had ever seen! The white haired murderer he normally seen in his dreams slaughtered a large group of people in front of his very eyes. It felt so real… 

"Brother, are you alright?" Shigeru asked, sitting at Satoshi's bed side.

Satoshi took a moment to get a hold of himself, shaking off the dream. "Shi…Shigeru? Where am I?"

"You're in the hospital. You've been out for awhile."

Satoshi grew more aware about the fact he was in a hospital. The entire room was white and kept neat and tidy. Behind Shigeru was a wide window with a good view of the school. He also noticed a vase of flowers next to him, most likely from the nurses that worked there. "How long was I asleep?"

Shigeru closed his eyes and sighed. "A little over 3 months. The doctors didn't think you would make it…"

"3 MONTHS?" Satoshi gasped in shock.

Shigeru took one look at his face and started laughing. "I'm just kidding! You were out for only a day. Man, you should've seen the look on your face!"

_SLAM!_

"That was not funny!" Satoshi took a nearby vase and slammed it on top of Shigeru's head.

Shigeru's face instantly turned serious. "What kind of nightmare where you having just now?"

Satoshi's brow furrowed at the thought. "It was…frightening. I remember Yuuki going through some kind of personality change and…for some reason he started laughing. Then, he massacred a whole bunch of people. It was horrible…at least it was just a dream…right?" Shigeru was silent. This increased Satoshi's fear by several fold. "R-right? Please tell me that was just a dream!"

There was no choice. Satoshi had to know the truth. "I hate to break it to you, but that was no dream. Everything you saw was real."

"Ah…! But, how did such a thing happen to him? Why did he do such things?"

"Perhaps I can answer that." A voice said. Satoshi and Shigeru turned to the visitor.

"Mathisu-sensei? What are you doing here?" Satoshi asked.

"I came to check up on you. Also, with everything that happened, I feel you more than deserve an explanation." Mathisu took a seat next to Satoshi. "You see, Yuuki has a bloodline curse. Very few families are affected, but his family has the most unique and dangerous version I've ever seen. It's called the Gemini Edge, and the person affected gains great power, but also a dangerous side effect. The curse splits up their personality into two, thereby giving them a split personality, thus the name Gemini Edge, since the curse could easily be a double edge sword."

"I see…" Satoshi nodded affirmatively.

Shigeru shot him a look. "…You didn't get a word he said, did you?"

"…Not a word." Satoshi answered. Mathisu and Shigeru face-faulted.

Shigeru sighed. "To put it simply, Yuuki has a curse that gives him multiple personalities. It gives him special powers, but also an alter ego."

"Ah, I get it now." Satoshi said. He frowned when he saw the look he was getting from Shigeru. "I'm serious! I get it for real now!"

Mathisu leaned over to Shigeru, whispering. "Is he always like this?"

Shigeru nodded shamefully. "Yeah. Just use short and simple sentences when speaking with him. He's kinda…you know, special…"

"I can hear you two whispering!" Satoshi bellowed. "Anyway, how are Kasumi and Haruka doing?"

"Kasumi's fine. She only had a few minor bruises and cuts, but nothing serious. Your Pokémon are also doing fine and waiting for you at your dorm. Haruka however, isn't so good…" Mathisu lowered his head regrettably.

"What's wrong with Haruka? Did she get hurt worse than expected?" Satoshi asked worriedly.

"Haruka didn't receive many injures at all, but mentally, she's devastated. Because of whatever happened to her, she lost her voice. She's currently in the recuperation area, getting treatment and help. But even then, it looks like she will never be able to speak again. Sadly, this entire situation hurts your team in two ways: one, Yuuki is gone, leaving you with a member short. And two, because Haruka is mute, her magic abilities are practically reduced to zero, hindering your team drastically." Shigeru informed.

Satoshi closed his eyes, piecing the information together. It was a lot to take in. "I guess our team is hurt, but that doesn't mean we're going to quit. We'll pull through and fix back our team, no matter what."

Mathisu smiled warmly. The boy had so much enthusiasm. "That's good to hear. Glad to see your spirit hasn't diminished."

"Hey, if it's alright, I would like to check up on Haruka." Satoshi requested.

Shigeru shook his head. "No can do. She is in no condition to see anyone right now. Even if you did, she wouldn't respond to anyone, not even her own Pokémon. No one knows what's going through her mind. The doctors don't want to risk reading her mind with a psychic Pokémon, otherwise it might make things worse. The only thing we can do is wait for her to recover and pray."

Mathisu stood up and headed for the door. "Satoshi, you should probably take care of things here and go to class soon. It's still early morning, and you have about an hour before you have to be in class. Think you can make it?"

"Of course I can. I'm already fine and ready to go." Satoshi answered vibrantly.

"Alright, I'll see you in class." Mathisu nodded and left, getting ready for the day. Satoshi decided to follow suit.

Close to an hour later, Satoshi was in class. His earlier bright and confident attitude was a front for how he was really feeling. He felt so powerless, watching the events of that night while bounded. Now the team was falling apart, with only Satoshi and Kasumi holding up as support. What could the team do? How would they handle the future challenges? When was the situation going to be fixed? He could only hope the situation changes for the better…

A minute later, Kasumi arrived and sat next to Satoshi in her designated seat. "Ohayou gozaimasu, Satoshi." She greeted.

"Ohayou." Satoshi greeted back. "How are you feeling?"

"Besides the fact our team is cut in half, one of our teammates went insane and the other is having a mental breakdown, everything's fine and dandy." Kasumi answered sarcastically.

"You too huh? I know it's tough, but we've got to try and stay strong, for both Yuuki and Haruka."

Kasumi sighed heavily as she leaned on the desk. "I feel that some of this is my fault. After all, I was pushing Haruka towards you the whole time."

"You were?" Satoshi gasped in surprise.

"Yeah. I was trying to get Yuuki and Haruka together by having you dump Haruka, but everything backfired and started this mess."

"I see…" Satoshi found that strange and somewhat out of character for Kasumi. Why was she trying to get them together? Even so, it was definitely unfair for her to do such a thing. "I don't think it's your fault, but you really shouldn't have tried to go through with such a plan. I mean, what was the point?"

The red head looked up in thought, unsure of the answer. "…Point? I don't know. I guess I was sort of…annoyed with her hovering around you while I was watching Yuuki suffer from it. Now that I think about it, it was stupid of me to do such a thing. Gomen nasai."

Satoshi placed a friendly hand on Kasumi's shoulder. "It's alright. Things happen that we don't expect. The best thing we can do is learn from our mistakes and move on."

Kasumi glanced at Satoshi surprisingly. "That's strange. You actually said something smart for once."

"Don't push it." Satoshi warned.

A few more minutes passed. As more students started arriving, Satoshi noticed something strange. Half of the students who used to come to class were replaced with people he never seen before. The boys were dressed in an all black, traditional Japanese school uniform while the girls wore their sailor uniforms. Kasumi punched Satoshi several times for 'accidentally' staring at the school girl's mini skirts.

"Ohayou gozaimasu." Mathisu welcomed, stepping through the front door.

"Ohayou Mathisu-sensei!" The students chimed in unison.

Mathisu headed towards the front of the class, placing his notes on his desk. "First of all, some of you may have noticed some new students all over the school. This is because thanks to our school's results from the acceptance exam for the Bushido League, one of the other schools have taken great interest in us and engaged in a foreign exchange program."

"A foreign exchange program? What's that?" Satoshi whispered to Kasumi.

"It's when two different schools swap students for awhile. From the looks of their uniforms, I guess they've come from the school in the Hoenn region, Ivalice."

"Ivalice? Never heard of it."

"I wouldn't be surprised. I don't know too much about it, but I've heard they have four classes like us, but they are completely different from ours. Who knows what they are."

"That sounds awesome. I can't wait to see that!"

Mathisu continued to speak. "Now, before I continue, I would like to introduce Ivalice's school representative. He's one of the top students in his class and represents the school. He will join one of the teams from our school, namely the ones who were the main reason for this event, Team Tatsujin."

"Us? What did we do that was so special?" Satoshi wondered, amazed.

"You didn't think the Ursaring pack you defeated some time ago were just a random group of bears, right? Everyone knew about them, and the fact that your team defeated them made all the other schools see us in a new light. Now, he should be here any minute."

There was a murmur in the crowd. The students from Ivalice were talking amongst themselves about Team Tatsujin and the representative while the students of Arcadia wondered who the representative was. Satoshi and Kasumi were also curious.

"I wonder who that guy is. Maybe he's a powerful super genius, something like my brother?" Satoshi pondered.

"Or maybe he's a big and burly super fighter who knows no equal." Kasumi guessed.

Suddenly, the door opened, and everyone turned their heads to see the visitor, however… "Where's he? Didn't someone open the door?" Takeshi questioned.

"I'm standing right here you idiot!" A young boy's voice barked. Everyone glanced lower to see a young, 10 year old looking boy with a black uniform stood at the door. He had on a black uniform like the other male students, marking him as a student from Ivalice. A pair of rectangle reading glasses complimented his golden eyes. He ran his hand through his silver hair, giving him a handsome effect. He was obviously a bishonen.

Takeshi got up from his chair and knelt in front of the boy, patting him on the head. "Hey little guy. Did you get lost and can't find your mommy?"

_POW! BAM! THWACK!_

Takeshi was laid out on the ground, out cold. The angered child picked up Takeshi's head and slapped him repeatedly with a paper fan for each word he shouted. "DON'T. YOU. EVER. CALL. ME. LITTLE!" The kid unceremoniously dropped Takeshi's head and huffed.

Mathisu sweat-dropped. "Um…can I ask who you are before you start beating up my students?"

The kid jumped on top of a table, making his introduction more dramatic. "I'm the representative from Ivalice, Leo Reiko. Now, I'm here to find the group who was responsible for defeating one of the main groups of the Raokei pack!" Satoshi and Kasumi's jaw dropped. That short kid was the school's representative? Either the standards were very low, or the child was very powerful.

Mathisu pointed to Satoshi and Kasumi. "They're over there."

Leo jumped from table to table, all the way until he reached Satoshi's table. He glanced back and forth between the two, scrutinizing them. "Hmm…so these are the guys huh? So I'm guessing this must be Yuuki and Satoshi from Team Tatsujin."

"Uh…you're half right. I'm Satoshi and that's the fighter, Kasumi." Satoshi corrected.

Leo stared questionably at Satoshi. "You're telling me this walking ironing board is a girl?"

_SLAM!_

"Don't call me flat you twerp!" Kasumi growled, smashing Leo's head with her mallet. Leo fell off the table and landed flat on his face. Everyone peered over the boy worriedly. He wasn't moving.

"Leo? Are you alright?" Satoshi knelt next to him and poked at his side. However, he still wasn't moving. "Uh oh….Kasumi? I think you over did it."

"What are you talking about? That runt deserved it! He called me flat!"

"It's not that far from the truth…" Satoshi mumbled. Luckily, Kasumi didn't hear the comment. "Err…he isn't breathing…."

Kasumi started sweating nervously, but still kept her cool. "I'm sure he's just bluffing."

"Oh man…he doesn't have a pulse…!" Satoshi turned to Kasumi, a horrified look on his face. "I think you killed him!"

Kasumi shot up from her chair, outraged. "Stop lying! He's got to have a pulse!" She knelt beside Satoshi and picked up Leo's wrist. Just like Satoshi said, there was no pulse. "Oh no…I killed him….but I didn't mean to! I mean, I was just trying to teach him a lesson and all. I didn't think he would die!"

"Times like these, we should pray he finds happiness on the other side..." Satoshi closed his eyes and clasped his hands together, praying for Leo. Kasumi followed suit and did the same.

"I'M NOT DEAD YOU MORONS!" Leo yelled, shooting up from the ground.

"AAAAH! ZOMBIE!" Everyone shouted in surprise.

"I'm not a zombie! I just fell asleep…again…." Leo gazed downward bashfully. "It's a condition I have. Sometimes, I'll be in the middle of a conversation, and without warning, I'll just—" He suddenly blacked out and dropped to the ground.

"OH NO! HE DIED AGAIN!" Satoshi panicked.

"Oh wait…I remember now. They did say Leo had a sleeping disorder where he would fall asleep without warning. Even though it looks like he's dead, he's actually just asleep. Then he would suddenly—" Mathisu was interrupted when Leo sprang back to life.

"—fall asleep. Of course, I usually wake up soon after." Leo finished. He looked around, receiving very odd and surprised looks. "…What?"

"…Nothing." Satoshi and Kasumi sighed. This was going to be one long class.

Soon enough, the class settled down and sat in their assign seats. Since Leo was now a part of Team Tatsujin, he took Yuuki's seat, which was towards the middle of the class, adjacent to Satoshi's table. As the class progressed, Satoshi continually glanced at Leo. There was something about Leo that bugged him. How could someone who was that obnoxious, young and fell asleep at the drop of a hat be the school's representative? There must have been something amazing about him which wasn't revealed yet.

"Satoshi, do you know the answer to the question?" Mathisu asked, jerking Satoshi out of his thoughts.

"Huh? Oh, well, umm…that's…err…" Satoshi stuttered.

"Well if you can't answer the question, then pay attention. You're in class now. Is there anyone here that can answer the question?"

"I can." Leo stood up from his seat. All eyes were on him. "In the few regions existing in this world, there is a school of mastery for each of them, holding different class divisions and customs. Arcadia is by far the oldest of all of them, erected in the year 1704 A.R. (After Regeneration). This school holds four of the most basic forms of the arts, Samurai, Martial arts, Ninja, and Magic classes. However, those arts are the most basic and free form, allowing maximum malleability and mastery."

"Very well put." Mathisu complimented. "If possible, would you like to tell us a little about Ivalice?'

Leo nodded. "I'll be glad to. Ivalice is a more advanced school from the Hoenn region. Just like Arcadia, our school has four main classes: Alchemist, Knight, Gunner, and Summoner. Each class has three separate levels, divided by strength and ability. Unlike this school, we don't go by rank, but grade. It's the same principle, but named differently. Such as a grade A knight would be the equivalent to a class A samurai. For us, you get grade depending on how many classes you have mastered. If you have mastered one class, your grade is A. If two classes, S, three, SA, and all of them, SS. Basically, if you are grade SS, you are the most powerful student in the school. As I hear it, the system is the same for this school as well."

"That's true. Well done." Mathisu complimented. "Of course even you would understand that the same grade levels don't apply to outside the school. Even if you are at the SS level, there are still enemies who can defeat you. You are quite knowledgeable for someone so young. Tell me, what is your age and grade?"

"I'm 14 years old and a grade A student. I've mastered Alchemist and plan to also master the Knight class, which is just around the corner."

'Impossible! He's at a higher level then us, yet he's younger?' Satoshi and Kasumi thought simultaneously.

"Hopefully you have a great experience while you stay in Arcadia." Mathisu said.

"Feh, they only made me the representative to kick me out…" Leo mumbled.

"What was that?" Mathisu asked, hearing the last bit.

"Huh? Oh, nothing. Never mind." Leo sighed as he propped his head up lazily on the table.

Satoshi had to admit, that kid seemed very smart. The glasses weren't just for show. One thing was for certain, there were a lot of questions he had to ask Leo during the break.

A few hours later, it was time for lunch break. Leo was sitting in one of the outdoor benches, resting. Back in Ivalice, he was chosen to be the school representative at the last minute. Sure, he was very skilled, but the school didn't like him very much. They had their reasons, but to go to such lengths to get him out was overkill, even for them. Sadly, he had a run-in with the headmaster of the school numerous times and weren't on the friendliest terms. Oh well, he didn't like the school much anyway. At least…he could get away from the horror that waited for him there and finally catch a break.

"Hey, Leo."

"Hm?" Leo glanced at the corner of his glasses and saw Satoshi and Kasumi heading towards him. "What do you two want with me?" He questioned with a bored tone.

"Come on now, don't be like that. I was hoping whether we could probably hang out and swap stories and stuff. How about?" Satoshi offered, being cheerful.

"Oh, here's a better idea. How about…no."

Satoshi groaned inwardly, already getting agitated. "What's wrong with getting to know your teammates? We just want to get along."

Leo sighed, annoyance evident in his voice. "I don't care about hanging out with a flat head and a flat chest. I'll pass."

Kasumi glared menacingly at the boy. "Why you…!"

"Whoa!" Satoshi had to hold Kasumi back with all his strength to prevent a massacre. "What's the big idea? Why are you acting like that?" Satoshi snapped.

_SLAM!_

Satoshi and Kasumi jumped when Leo slammed on the table. "Look, Sato-whoever-the-hell-you-are, I'm not here to be buddy-buddy with you and your little gang of morons! All I'm here to do is stay with you for a few months, watch you perform, and then head back to the hell they call a school. Don't think for a second that I enjoy coming here!" He snapped back harshly.

Satoshi was taken aback by Leo's outburst. Why was he attacking him and Kasumi? Was he really that dead set against making friends? Just what was his problem anyway? "Oh well. If you want us, we'll be at the hospital, visiting one of our teammates." Satoshi turned around and left for the hospital along with Kasumi.

"Hmph, like I care. Useless fools…" Leo tapped his finger repetitively on the table, slowly growing more irritated. "…I can't believe I'm going to do this…"

With the other two members of Team Tatsujin, they were at the main lobby of the medical bay. Satoshi walked up to the main desk. "Excuse me ma'am, but I would like to meet a teammate of ours. Her name is Haruka Momiji."

The pink haired woman dressed in an equally pink nurse's outfit flipped through a folder in front of her. "Let's see, Haruka…Haruka…ah, here we go. Hmm…sorry, but her condition is still considered unstable. We can't allow you to see her. I'm sorry." The woman apologized.

"What? Come on, please? We need to see if she's going to be alright." Kasumi pleaded.

The nurse shook her head sadly. "I'm sorry. Doctor's orders."

"Aw man…" Satoshi sighed.

"Let them through Nurse Joy." A voice said.

Satoshi whirled around and was surprised with whom he saw. "Leo? What are you doing here?"

Leo ignored Satoshi as he passed by him and went up to the counter, unfortunately having to jump on top of the counter because he was so short. "I'll make sure they won't agitate the patient in anyway. They'll be under my watch."

Nurse Joy blinked, extremely skeptical. "Um…excuse me, but who are you?"

"Hmph, BEHOLD!" Leo flashed a wallet ID in front of Nurse Joy, surprising her. "I'm a certified psychologist expert, Leo Reiko of Ivalice academy. As you can see, this is an official identification card of my worth."

The still surprised nurse took the ID and scanned it in a nearby machine. A list of information appeared on the screen. Her eyes widened in surprise. "Oh my! I didn't think you were from THE Reiko family. My apologies, you and your friends may come through."

Leo took back the ID and expertly slipped it back inside his long sleeve coat, smirking coolly. "I thank you for your services." He jumped off the counter and made his way towards Haruka's room. "Hurry up if you want to see your friend."

Kasumi and Satoshi glanced at each other, surprised and muddled. What was that about? Did Leo actually help them? They followed Leo towards Haruka's room.

"What's the situation with her?" Leo asked, not bothering to turn around.

Satoshi felt a little uncomfortable talking about it, but since Leo was a part of their team now, not to mention helped them out, it was only fair. "Well, something traumatic happened to her. Ever since, she's lost her voice."

"I see…" The grade A Alchemist said nothing more as he continued towards the room. When the group arrived, they saw Haruka huddled in a corner, hugging her knees. Her eyes were vacant of emotion and it looked like she hadn't slept at all. The poor girl was a mess.

"Haruka!" Both Satoshi and Kasumi ran to her, worried beyond belief. Haruka didn't respond in the least, which made the two worry. They knew she couldn't speak, but they were eager to help Haruka. What else could they do?

"…Leave." Leo cracked his knuckles, a serious expression on his face.

"Leave? What are you going to do?" Satoshi asked.

"…Things. There's something I have to see."

"We aren't leaving until you let us in on it. What are you going to do?" Kasumi demanded, agitated with the kid's attitude.

"The doctors here weren't planning on releasing her anytime soon. With the mentally injury she probably has, I can guess they would've kept for her for at least 4 months minimum. I can at least get her moving around in under an hour. But I can't do it if you two are in the way."

"But—"

"It's alright Kasumi. Let's trust him for now." Satoshi suggested.

"…Alright. You better not do anything to hurt her! You hear me?" Kasumi warned.

Leo wasn't fazed at all. "You can threaten me all you like, but it won't help Haruka. Now hurry and leave. I can't be bothered with what I'm about to do." Satoshi and Kasumi walked passed Leo and closed the door behind them. When the door was closed, Leo made sure it was completely locked with no chance of interference. He took slow, daunting steps towards Haruka while cracking his knuckles. "Now, shall we get started?"

Haruka curled tighter in the corner. What was he going to do with her? And who was he?

3 and a half hours passed since Satoshi and Kasumi started their second class. What was taking Leo so long? Did something go wrong? What if he was doing something bad? All of these questions ran through their minds as they performed their exercise activities.

"Okay class, next on our list is…hm?" Hayabusa directed his attention to two other people heading their way in the outdoor training area.

"Ah…! Satoshi, look!" Kasumi gasped, pointing.

"What is it?" Satoshi looked in the direction Kasumi pointed and gasped. "Whoa…it's…Haruka! She's moving!" He cheered. The most surprising fact was she was smiling! It was as though not only did her strength return, but she seemed stronger. Satoshi noticed her cradling someone in her arms. It was Leo sleeping! Both Satoshi and Kasumi ran to Haruka. "Hey Haruka, are you feeling better?"

"…" Haruka nodded happily as she carefully laid Leo on the ground and nudged him awake.

"Mmmm…just five more minutes' sis…" Leo spoke in his sleep. Haruka giggled silently as she continued to shake him awake. "Huh? Wait, did I fall asleep on you?" Leo asked. Haruka nodded. "I see. Well, now that we're here. Why don't we get started?"

"…" Haruka nodded.

"Huh?" Satoshi and Kasumi stared at each other in confusion. How on earth did Leo do that? Almost four hours ago, Haruka didn't respond to anyone. Now, she and Leo were practically best friends!

"What did you do?" Satoshi asked.

"It's a secret." Leo winked to Haruka, who returned the gesture. "Unfortunately, she hasn't regained her voice yet. But enough about that, I think it's time to show everyone what the new and improved Haruka can do. Hayabusa was it? May I show the class an example of Ivalice's teachings?"

"I don't see why not. You are Ivalice's rep after all. Feel free." Hayabusa allowed.

Leo nodded. "Alright. Now Haruka, will you give me your staff and some cloth?"

"…" Haruka gave Leo the staff and a piece of fabric.

Leo laid the items neatly together on the ground. "Here we go!" Leo clapped his hands together and envisioned the item he was about to create. Detail, design, texture, feel, everything was clear! "HM!" He slammed his hands on the wand. Suddenly, a large surge of electricity sparked from his hands and enveloped the weapon. A puff of smoke covered the rod for a few moments. When the smoke cleared, everyone was astonished. A pair of gloves was made from the rod! It was a bright red color with a white marking on the back of it. Haruka picked it up and slipped them on. It felt really comfortable!

"That's amazing…" Satoshi stared in awe. He had never seen anything like it before!

"You haven't seen what this can do. These gloves are my own personal creation. The Leo special: Alchemic gloves. Now to show you one of my special attacks, the Pyro Strike. Haruka, do it like I showed you earlier."

Haruka closed her eyes and concentrated on her hands. Just like her wand, she could easily channel her magic abilities to her gloves, except now she can cast spells and attacks without saying a word!

"Now I want you to aim towards your left…" Leo guided. Haruka raised her clenched fist and held it out towards her left. "Focus on the point that is 6 feet away…good! Get ready…"

Kasumi pondered what Leo was trying to do. She noticed Haruka's hand positioned as if she was going to snap her fingers. According to Leo's instructions, whatever Haruka was about to do, it would be aimed directly at…Satoshi.

"Do it!" Leo commanded. Haruka snapped her fingers. Instantly, a red spark crackled in front of Satoshi.

_BOOM!_

"WAAAAA!" Satoshi screamed, flying high in the air due to the fiery explosion. Everyone glanced upward at the sky high Satoshi, who was propelled at least 30 feet in the air.

_CRASH!_

Satoshi crashed face first into the earth, writhing in agony. "Did anyone get the license plate on that meteor…?" He asked in a dazed voice. A small moment passed, and then everyone slowly started clapping.

"That people, is just a small sample of the power of Alchemy." Leo bowed.

"While that was an impressive display…do you think you could've done it _without_ burning one of my students?" Hayabusa gestured the smoldering carcass once known as Satoshi.

Leo thought about it for a moment before shrugging. "Nope. Hmm…" He walked over to Satoshi and tapped on him with his foot. "He's still alive. Man, this guy must be immortal. I think he'll be the perfect person to use in my experiments…hehehe…"

Everyone sweat-dropped. Perhaps it was best not to ask…

_RING! RING! RING!_

Hayabusa turned to the sound of the ringing, indicating the end of class. "Well, it looks like today's class is over. Class, you are dismissed." He bided farewell as he and the other students left.

During the night, everyone was back in their own homes, getting rest for classes tomorrow. Satoshi was writing in his journal entry to finish off the day.

_Dear Journal_

_4/16/15_

_Mood: Shocked_

_So many things happened the last two days, I still can't believe it. For one, on Saturday, Haruka actually confessed that she loved me. You know, I always figured that she liked Yuuki in that kind of way, so when she told me that, I didn't think she meant in a romantic way, but in a brotherly way. Well long story short, I told her I liked her as a brother, and she ran off. It's not like I could've known she meant it in that kind of way!_

_But that's not the freakiest part. You see, later that day, we all found out that Tazuma kidnapped Haruka. It was obvious he was luring us into a trap, but there was no choice. We had to go. Well, Yuuki went ahead of us to rescue Haruka while Kasumi and I took on the pursuers. Well, we weren't successful and got captured in the process. We were brought to the deepest section of the forest, where we saw Yuuki covered in wounds and Haruka bound to a tree. I don't know what happened, but it was then Yuuki snapped. He started killing all of those guys and Pokémon. It was just unreal and sickening. It was nothing compared to what he did to Tazuma. I almost felt sorry for the guy. Enemy or not, he was tormented in a harsh and cruel way. After Tazuma died, some guy named Saito appeared and started speaking to Yuuki For some reason, Yuuki decided to join Saito, who was obviously a bad guy! There were two things that were strange. One, Yuuki kept referring himself as someone else named Shiroku. According to Mathisu-sensei's explanation, I guess Shiroku was Yuuki's alter ego. Another strange fact was how Shiroku was saying how he hated Haruka, and when he tried to kill her, he couldn't. I wonder what that meant…_

_One thing was certain. Shiroku was the madman from my dreams. Did this mean I had to fight him? I really hope it doesn't come down to that._

_On a less depressing topic, something really cool happened during school today. Our school participated in a foreign exchange program with another school named Ivalice. It involves a lot of complicated, but super awesome stuff. Some new guy named Leo Reiko joined our team as of today. I'll tell ya, that guy is just as mysterious as Yuuki! First, he bites our heads off and starts insulting us, the next minute, he's helping Haruka stand on her feet and acting all friendly with her. Even though he's incredibly smart, he has this weird thing where he falls asleep faster than you would believe. I honestly thought he was dead at first. I'm still a little skeptical. Oh, and did you know that guy turned me into a fireworks display? That's another story all together. Quite frankly, that guy annoys me._

_Well, that's about it. I wonder how Haruka is holding up after all of this. She was the closest person to Yuuki, so one could only imagine what she is going through._

_Until next time,_

_Satoshi Saotome

* * *

_

Talk about a ton of new info, ya? I must say, it seems like my chapters are getting smaller and smaller. Don't know why, I mean, I know I got a couple of long ones in the future, but for now it's kinda short. Well, I hope to see you guys next time! Review and take it easy!

P.S. For those who want a reference, the clothes the males from Ivalice wear could be related to the same clothes Suichiro Nagi wears (from Tenjou Tenge). The sailor suits should be obvious, something similar to that of sailor moon.

Ohayou gozaimasu – good morning


	16. Conflict

I don't own Pokémon. If you don't believe me, ask my psychologist, you know, the same one who offered me one of those cool white jackets…

* * *

_On the middle of a battlefield, a lone woman stood victoriously over the endless amount of unconscious bodies. "Hahahahaha! No one could stand up to the might Kasumi, the aqua lotus!" Aqua lotus, a title Kasumi was most proud of. Moves like water, beautiful to watch, and deadly in battle. Her final opponent was coming up. This would be victory number 100. She didn't lose to the earlier fighters and she wouldn't lose to this one._

_The final fighter showed up and was nothing more than a silhouette of a person about Kasumi's height. Kasumi slid her feet back and prepared to dash. She was going to take him down quick. "HAAA!" She ran at her opponent swiftly, who was just standing. Right before her fist could land, the opponent shifted out of the way and stood directly in front of her. Kasumi was slightly stunned on how swift he was. She attacked him again, yet her opponent dodged it expertly and ended up behind her. Before she could react, the enemy embraced her from behind. _

"_W-wha…?" She looked at where his hands where and saw a flower. Never did she see a battle so awkward. For a moment, she paused, unsure of how to go about this. With a smile, she clasped her hands over the man's hands in front of her…and slammed him into the ground in front of her. Her opponent was especially stupid if he thought such tactics would affect her. She raised her fist to deliver the final blow and earn her 100th victory..._

"Huh…?" Kasumi awoke suddenly in the middle of the night. What was it that woke her up? She was trying to think of the cause, though it was getting increasingly difficult to do so with the sound of a flute ringing through her ears.

Wait…flute?

She looked over at the digital clock next to her gritted her teeth angrily. Who in their right mind would be playing a song at 2 AM in the morning? Whoever was causing such a distraction would suffer her wrath!

Immediately, she was outside in her pajamas, ready to beat down the source of the music. While song was well played and relaxing to hear, Kasumi wasn't in the mood. Her eyes scanned the area, but didn't find the person crazy enough to play music so early in the morning. That is, until she looked up on the roof. Under the crescent moon she saw a man around her age playing a soothing melody with the flute. His fine silver hair prevented Kasumi from getting a good view of his face. He wore his Ivalice uniform and had handsome features.

'Just great,' Kasumi thought wryly, 'Another romancing bishonen gone wrong.' She was determined to get him down one way or another. "Hey! Some of us are trying to sleep!" She yelled.

Suddenly, the music stopped. The man glanced downward at Kasumi, but didn't utter a single word. Kasumi was surprised to see that his eyes were closed. Was he some kind of freak sleepwalker? "Are you…my dream?" The mysterious man asked.

Kasumi was baffled. "Dream? What are you talking about?" The bishonen leapt off the roof towards Kasumi, accelerating with great speed. "So fast!" Kasumi was surprised. Was he trying to attack her? She opted to defend herself when the man landed and whirled behind her. He pressed his chest against Kasumi's back and brushed his warm cheek against hers.

"Such a divine aura of ecstasy you emit…you really are my dream. I've longed for you…" The man whispered smoothly in Kasumi's ear.

"RAAH!" Kasumi whirled around and tried to attack the man in a panic, her face turning pink. Her ears were burning from the man's smooth voice. Astoundingly, the man dodged the punch and gently grasped her fist with one hand and stroked her arm with the other.

"Such fine skin not even angels can compete with…" The man placed a soft kiss on Kasumi's fist and started trailing upward.

Kasumi quickly yanked her kiss-ridden hand away, blushing madly. Her heart was pounding in her chest. What was going on with this guy? Was he trying to seduce her? She wasn't going to take that lying down! "HA!" She spun into back kick, only to have the uncanny romantic grasp her leg.

"I've always wanted to be with you ever since the beginning…if only I had told you sooner…" He slowly caressed Kasumi's leg as he placed her foot on his shoulder.

A small shudder escaped her lips. His hands were so firm, yet gentle. The man suddenly moved and was directly in front of Kasumi. She nearly fell backwards when the bishonen supported her by holding her leg midway and placing his other hand on the middle of her back. Kasumi couldn't take her eyes off him or get rid of the pink that was etched in her cheeks as the man slowly leaned in. She couldn't move, no matter how hard she tried. He was so close; she could feel his warm breath against her lips. Against her on will, her lips started parting and her eyes lowered half way.

Suddenly, he stopped. The bishonen helped Kasumi stand on her feet as he backed away slowly. A look of worry and regret was plastered on his face. "As much as I regret, I must go. I bid you farewell…my dream…" He jumped away and disappeared.

Kasumi continued to stand, staring ahead blankly. She was speechless, awestruck, and extremely ticked off! It was humiliating to get defeated so easily, especially by someone whose eyes were closed the entire time! For five minutes she remained frozen, unable to shake off the impressing she got from him. The guy was smooth, too smooth. She wasn't going to let him get away with humiliating her like that! But first, she needed to forget about him and get some sleep. As she returned to her room and lay on her bed, she couldn't get rid of the blush on her face or the pounding in her chest.

Whoever that guy was, he was going down the next time she saw him!

The next day arrived and Kasumi was exhausted. Ever since the incident, she could barely get any sleep. Also, there was something familiar about the guy, something she couldn't shake off. What was it though? She couldn't get rid of that image from her mind. How each time she attempted to attack him, he would just counter in some annoyingly romantic gesture. It just wasn't right. She felt extremely annoyed…and the fact Satoshi constantly poked at her head was only making things worse…

"Uh…Kasumi? Are you there? Hello?" Satoshi continued to poke at her head, bringing her back to reality.

"WHAT DO YOU WANT?" Kasumi yelled loudly.

"WAH!" Satoshi fell off his seat, surprised by Kasumi's outburst. "I've been trying to wake you up for the last 20 minutes. Class is over and it's time for lunch.

"…Say what?" Kasumi noticed everyone except Satoshi, Haruka and Leo were gone. She didn't even remember today's lecture. Was she absorbed in her thoughts the whole time?

"I've never seen you space out before. Are you alright?" Satoshi asked.

"Yes I'm fine!" Kasumi snapped. Satoshi backed up cautiously. That was one subject Satoshi was going to stay away from if he valued his life.

Satoshi noticed Leo whispering something to Haruka, who started giggling at the comment. "What's so funny?"

Leo chuckled lightly under his breath. "Well, I just thought maybe Kasumi was wondering when the two of you should settle down…"

Satoshi and Kausmi blushed at the comment. "That is NOT funny!" The two yelled, which caused the other half of the team to laugh.

Kasumi turned around and was about to yell at Leo when she noticed something. The man from last night had the same hair color and uniform, but he was older and was a completely different person. "Leo, do you have any brothers attending this school?" She asked.

Leo raised an eyebrow. "No. I don't have any brothers here…at least, I'm not sure…" He said the last part to himself. "Why do you ask? Don't tell me you're trying to get my attention."

"What? No! Don't flatter yourself!" Kasumi stood up and left the room, leaving her friends behind.

"Hmm…" Satoshi fixated his gaze at the door Kasumi left through. He had known her long enough to tell if something was wrong. The only question was what…

After the day was over, Kasumi retired early, not in the mood to do anything fun or exciting. She propped her head up on the windowsill of her room while sitting on her bed, staring into the cloudless night sky. The thoughts of last night ran rampant through her mind. Why couldn't she just forget about the silver haired weirdo?

"Who was that guy anyway…?" She thought aloud to herself.

"I KNEW IT!" Kasumi's sisters shouted in unison.

"ACK!" Kasumi nearly fell off her bed, taken aback by their outburst. "What are you three doing in my room?"

"Uh-uh-uh, you aren't getting out of this one little sister!" Sakura declared. She, Botan and Ayame circled around Kasumi, preventing escape. "You were acting suspicious all day. Plus, don't think we didn't see what happened last night!"

Kasumi's eyes widened in shock. "Y-y-y-you saw that?"

"Oh yeah, and to be honest, I'm shocked with your behavior!" Botan remarked, "I mean, I never thought you would cheat on Satoshi with some mysterious new student!"

"What are you talking about? I'm not going out with Satoshi, and I never will!"

"Liar, lair, pants on fire!" Ayame sang annoyingly.

"Quit it!"

"Now, now, don't get so excited. Now tell me, who was that guy from last night? He got you SO good! I wish a guy would be that romantic with me! You are so lucky…" Botan pouted.

"Now you listen here! The same thing won't happen again! He just got me by surprised. I didn't expect him to fight so well with his eyes closed!" That was another fact that bothered Kasumi. His eyes were closed, yet it seemed the boy could discern everything about her and even dodge her attacks.

"Well, if you see him again, think you could ask if he has any older brothers…?"

"Botan-chan!" Kasumi yelled.

"Oh relax. We're just teasing you." Sakura said. "Well, we'll leave you alone for awhile. Come on girls, let's go…" She started tugging Botan and Ayame away by the hem of their shirts.

"Awww…." The two girls pouted.

"Oyasumi Kasumi-chan." Sakura said.

"Oyasumi." Kasumi said back.

Sakura was outside Kasumi's room when she stopped. "Oh yeah. One more thing…" She winked at Kasumi, who was confused. "Don't give it up too quickly. Make him work for it…"

Kasumi reddened at the implication. "Sakura-chan!" She growled, slamming the door shut. She could hear them giggling from the other side of the door. Sisters were such a pain in the neck…

For many hours, Kasumi was wide awake, unable to sleep. It wasn't just the fact that man got on her nerves, but she actually let him get to her. Normally, she wouldn't let such things bother her, but something about the man got to her. It wasn't just the moves he put on her, or the things he said, but his entire atmosphere was calm and caring. She shook her head furiously. She was definitely over thinking the situation. It wasn't that big of a deal. Perhaps it was a one time thing and she would never see him again. With this in mind and seeing she wasn't going to sleep anytime soon, she got up and dressed. Remembering her old habits, she headed out the door and left for the park.

The night was getting warm as spring was in its late stages, only about two months away from summer. As the wind whipped around her, she felt all of her troubles fly away with the wind. Something about the outdoors made her feel at peace. Finally, she could relax! However, when she arrived at her usually spot, she saw someone she was hoping _not_ to run into. It was the same man from last night! Another strange fact was what he was doing. He was standing in the middle of the lake, as if he was about to do something. Curious, Kasumi watched from a distance, making herself partially hidden behind one of the nearby trees.

The silver haired student gracefully motioned his hands in a sweeping motion. A thick stream of water moved as his hand manipulated its movements, spinning it upward in a sparkling spiral. Once his hand was outstretched in one direction, he did the same with his other hand, conducting another stream of water upward. He twirled in a dance, the water flowing with him. Stopping in mid spin, he lifted one of his fingers and pointed at the sky. The two streams swirled at the tip of his finger and formed a round, crystal clear sphere of water. With a small spin, he snapped his finger. Instantly, the water exploded in the air and created an awe-inspiring wave of sparkling rain, making the man's features glisten under the moonlight.

Kasumi was speechless. She hadn't seen anything performed so magnificently in her life. The way the water seemed to illuminate the man took her breath away. Was he training? Showing off? Creating a new technique? She didn't know, but she could watch him all night long.

"Ah…!" She whirled behind the tree, her heart quickening in speed. What were those thoughts she just had? Was that guy trying to mess with her head? Her mind was spinning rapidly, trying to discern her wild emotions and thoughts when she was embraced from behind.

"I'm glad you came to see me act for you…" The man whispered.

"WAH!" Kasumi got out of his embrace with a start, her heart pounding from the scare. He knew she was there the whole time? "How did you see me?"

"You didn't know? I can always see your aura shining brightly before me."

Kasumi was surprised. Only those with high inner strength and chi could read someone's aura signature. That explained why not only was he so skilled, but could see her as though it was a clear as day. Of all the questions buzzing through her confused mind, one stood out the most. "What's your name?"

The man looked surprised and hurt. "How could you forget my name? It's me, Kaisuke."

"Kaisuke…" The name had a nice ring to it. Kasumi stood on her feet and prepared to attack. She was determined to defeat him this time.

Kaisuke extended his hand to her. "Would you allow me the honor of dancing with you this night?"

Kasumi didn't answer, but instead tried to punch him. Her fist almost landed when Kaisuke gently grabbed her fist and pulled her close to him. The two were moving step by step in a dance, though Kasumi had to follow his lead in order to prevent herself from falling. She tried to slam her knee into Kaisuke's stomach, only to have him dodge the attack slimly and dip her backwards. When she was brought back up, she attempted to head butt him using the momentum, but once again, Kaisuke tilted his head to dodge the strike. Kasumi was about to pull her head back when she felt what had to be the softest pair of lips on the base of her neck.

Her eyes widened as she tensed. A surge of delight and shock flowed throughout her entire body, causing her defenses to shut down completely. As Kaisuke trailed up her neck, Kasumi's eyes slowly closed as she relished the feeling, a small moan escaping her lips. It felt incredible. When Kaisuke's lips reach her ear, he whispered sweet words that caused her ear to burn red. Kasumi felt his path is kisses across her cheeks and were expecting them to land on her lips, when it suddenly stopped. Her eyes fluttered open to find Kaisuke gone! She looked around, to find any trace that he was really there gone…except for something she felt in her hair. It was…a rose?

She stood still for several minutes, still feeling the effects of Kaisuke's affections. Her eyes widened with great shock upon a realization. "KUSO! He got me, AGAIN!"

_CRACK!_

She punched a nearby tree in frustration, almost breaking it in half. Angered beyond reasoning, she stormed her way towards her dorm, mumbling and swearing under her breath.

The nearby couples who saw the entire scene sweat-dropped. That was not the reaction they were expecting…

The next day arrived and Satoshi kept taking quick glances at Kasumi during the lunch break, whose expression practically screamed frustration. Her face was still red from last night, which Satoshi took as signs of anger. The last thing he wanted was to get yelled at for saying something strange or dumb, so he had to start with something small.

Kasumi on the other hand, was contemplating ways to defeat Kaisuke and NOT fall under whatever trick he pulled on her earlier. Frankly, she was at wits end. 'I will not be defeated again. I will not be defeated again…" She chanted mentally to herself.

"So, Kasumi…" Satoshi started casually.

Unfortunately for Satoshi, the small comment jerked Kasumi out of her thoughts. "STOP WITH THE QUESTIONS!" Kasumi shouted, shocking Satoshi. "Can't I get a day's peace without you constantly breathing down my back? SHEESH!" She glared at Satoshi before turning away and walking off.

Satoshi stood stock still, surprised and stupefied. All he was going to do was ask how her day was…

That same night, Kasumi made another attempt to defeat Kaisuke, only to get constantly put in a romantic position. The next five days was the same pattern, Kasumi fights, loses, and ends up with a rose and dazed expression. After the fifth night, she finally gave up on fighting him and just enjoyed Kaisuke's company. For the following week, she had done nothing but watch Kaisuke perform for her and bring her into the field of romance and bliss. Kasumi had soon forgotten the reason she even visited him, and sooner lost all the anger she had against him. Soon, most of her thoughts were about the nights she had given up just to see Kaisuke.

However, during the day, she was a completely different person. She would constantly bump into things and have a frighteningly happy, yet goofy grin on her face. This scared no one more than Satoshi, who was all too used to her old, violent behavior. It was the lunch break and Satoshi left with Leo to get lunches for the girls and themselves.

"Hey Leo, haven't you noticed something different about Kasumi?" Satoshi inquired.

Leo scoffed. "Who hasn't? She's a complete ditz who can't stop grinning. Was she always like this?"

"No. She used to be a lot more violent and beastly." Satoshi paid the man at the food stand, getting a drink and snack for him and Kasumi. "But, I was used to her old behavior (and punishments). I wonder what might've happened to her…"

Leo grabbed his and Haruka's food and left with Satoshi towards the bench where the rest of the group was sitting at. "It might be possible that she snapped."

Satoshi stared at Leo questionably. "Snapped? What do you mean?"

"Well, sometimes when people are under too much pressure, their behaviors change rapidly and their minds become warped. The first sign is intense frustration. The next sign is a dramatic change in personality. Then…the final stages…insanity" Leo gave the samurai a frightening stare. "It might be that she's going insane from too much stress."

"Oh no…!" With everything that had happened, it just might be that possibility! How could he have missed that? "I gotta help Kasumi!" Satoshi sped up while balancing the food in his arms, rushing to save Kasumi from her fate.

Leo sweat-dropped as he saw Satoshi speed up and leave him behind. "Perhaps, I should've told him I was just joking………nah!"

While running, Satoshi was a good few feet away from Kasumi when his foot tripped over a small rock, causing the food in his hands to turn into sticky projectiles. Haruka jumped out of the way in the nick of time. Kasumi, however, was too busy thinking about a certain someone to notice…

_SPLAT!_

"Holy…!" Satoshi froze with fear as Kasumi was covered with liquid from the drink and bits of food, mainly over her shirt and face. Everyone in the immediate vicinity stopped whatever they were doing and stared at Satoshi, who was now on death row. Kasumi slowly stood up and walked over to Satoshi, who was bowing in rapid succession. "Gomen! Gomen! Please don't kill me! I didn't mean to do that, I swear! Gomen nasai!" He pleaded frantically. The moment Kasumi's hand flinched Satoshi covered his head and prepared for the worse.

"It's okay. You just slipped and made an accident, that's all. Here, grab my hand." Kasumi extended her hand, her creepy smile not faltering.

Everyone, especially Satoshi, stared with absolute shock. Satoshi slowly inched his hand to grasp hers, not sure if she was going to send him flying. Kasumi lifted him to his feet and kept a smile plastered on her face. "I'm going to wash up a bit before the second class, alright?" With that, Kasumi skipped her way towards her dorm.

Yes…skipped.

Still speechless, Satoshi had a dark look on his face as he sat down and took out a pen and sheet of paper. Leo and Haruka shot him an inquisitive stare. "What are you doing with that?" Leo asked. Upon closer inspection, he could see that Satoshi was writing…a will?

"I'm not taking any chances. If Kasumi regains her sanity, she'll most likely remember what happened and kill me." Satoshi grimaced.

Leo and Haruka glanced at each other then nodded. Too true…

After all of the classes were done, Kasumi sat on her bed, reflecting on earlier today. Normally, she would've pounded Satoshi into oblivion for messing up her clothes. Strangely, she didn't feel any anger what so ever. Not only that, but she also noticed how she changed, which was impossible to not do since people kept staring at her. She nearly gagged herself to death at the realization that at one point she actually _skipped_. Kasumi Waterflower never skipped! One thing was for certain, this never happened before she met Kaisuke. She met with him every night, and somehow that changed her. Whenever she thought about him, she felt a foreign emotion. Her heart would beat faster and her face would redden. What were these feelings she was having?

"I need advice…" She said to herself. Who could she ask though? Her sisters were definitely off-limits. Satoshi's thoughts on romance were as useful as a knife in the eye and Haruka couldn't speak. She could ask Leo, but chances were he would just make fun of her. One possibility is the Pokémon, but her Pokémon didn't seem experienced in such a field. There was only one person she could think of who was wise enough…and she couldn't believe she would have to go to him for answers.

It was better than nothing.

A destination in mind, Kasumi left the apartment and promised her sisters she would be back soon. Barely a minute passed by in the Waterflower dorm when someone knocked on the door. Sakura answered the door and was surprised with the visitor.

"Hey Sakura. Think you can help me with something?" Satoshi asked.

With Kasumi, she soon arrived at Satoshi's apartment. With three loud knocks, the muddy brown haired class S samurai answered the door. "What's up Kasumi? Looking for Satoshi?" Shigeru inquired.

Kasumi bit her lip lightly. This was embarrassing. "A-actually, I need your advice on something. Can I come in?"

"Sure. Follow me." Shigeru led the girl towards the dinning room area. Kasumi sat on a couch to get comfortable while Shigeru made some green tea to make Kasumi feel more relax. After giving her the tea, Shigeru grabbed a chair and sat in front of Kasumi. "Alright, talk to me. What's up?"

Kasumi forced her gaze at the cup of tea she was holding. "Erm…well, it's kinda difficult to explain…you see, there's this guy I met recently. The first time I saw him, I thought he was some kind of nut case. But now…I've been seeing him every night for the past two weeks. I feel like there is something wrong with me, yet I can't tell what it is."

"Can you tell me more about this guy you've been seeing?" Shigeru asked, intrigued.

Kasumi face reddened slightly, remember how refined he looked. "Well…he is very mysterious, yet kind. He always does things for me yet doesn't ask for anything in return except for my presence. He's very romantic and affectionate, not to mention very skilled in battling. All I really know about him is his name."

"Hmm…and what seems to trouble you?"

"It's…this feeling I have. I haven't felt anything like it before. Whenever I see him, I just feel so at peace. I can't stop thinking about him or smile when I do so. I feel very distracted and uncoordinated because of all the constant thoughts. My heart pounds so much that sometimes, I feel like I can't breathe. My body feels so hot and I get a strange sensation that makes me feel warm and overwhelmed."

"I see…" Shigeru leaned back on the chair, a thoughtful look on his face. "I think I know what your problem is, but you're probably not going to like it."

"Could you please tell me? This has been bothering me for a while now. I just need to know what this feeling is…"

Shigeru closed his eyes and relaxed. "I think… you have a big crush on this guy."

"What…? No, that can't be right…that just can't…" Kasumi denied. She seemed unsure rather than against the idea. "I promised myself I would never get romantically involved, ever. There were so many times where I was betrayed and used by someone I thought was a friend, but with all of this happening…"

Shigeru sighed. The girl was so confused with her conflicting emotions. "You know, it's okay to love someone. I can understand your motive for not wanting to be with a guy, but you have to also think that not everyone is the same. Love and affection have a unique strength and weakness. Every man is different in some way. You can't pin the blame on all men just because of the mistakes and errors a small few make. A perfect example is Satoshi. Think about all of the things he's done for you and see what guy has done the same…"

"Satoshi…" Kasumi felt another sensation in her chest. Surprisingly, it was similar to how she felt whenever she thought about Kaisuke. She started remembering all of the battles they went through. The times Satoshi helped open her heart out to people. When he comforted whenever she was down. How he protected her a number of times. The smile he would always flash her. His kindness, courage, and strength, but most of all, his heart. When it came to uniqueness, no man could hold a candle to Satoshi. He was definitely one of a kind.

She remembered two special occasions the two shared. Both on the one day she changed. It started with her first kiss. She did it to help Satoshi overcome the Destiny Bond spell, but if she truly didn't want to be involved with men in the first place, why would she do that under any conditions? The feeling of his lips was something she would never forget. However, even though Satoshi didn't kiss back, even though it was out of sheer instinct, the kiss was something more complex and different compared to anything she experienced.

Then, there was the time when Satoshi found out about her parents. The first time she felt truly touched. No matter how much she pushed him away, he pushed on towards her. No matter how much she attacked him, he took the blows with vigilance and courage. No matter what she did, Satoshi went through so much pain and punishment, and for only one reason.

He cared for her.

"That's true…Satoshi is like none other…" She said softly, all of these thoughts in mind.

Shigeru nodded. "That's right. There's nothing wrong with affection. Of course, this doesn't mean you have to rush head first into it. Love is a rose. It's beautiful to look at from a distance, but if you rush to have it, you'll only hurt yourself. A rose is appreciated by all, but only those who cared for the rose from the beginning can truly appreciate its beauty."

Shigeru's words seemed to fit Satoshi perfectly. It took awhile for him to warm up to her, but in the end, he started caring for her. Kaisuke opened up her heart even further, which by this point Kasumi was willing to admit. But one question still remained. "What should I do then?"

"That is something I can't answer. You'll know when that time comes."

"I get it now. Thanks for helping me. By the way…"

"I won't mention this conversation with anyone else."

"Arigatou." Kasumi finished the remaining green tea and left for her apartment to rest for later tonight.

_Beep! Beep! Beep!_

Satoshi rolled out of his bed and turned off the alarm clock. The digital clock read 12:30 AM. After getting dressed, he quietly left through the front door, grabbing his katana with him. According to what Kasumi's sisters told him, the guy Kasumi met with every night should be waiting for her in the park area by the lake. Even though the sisters were helpful, they were annoying with their secretive chatter and girly squeals. Was being worried for a friend really that surprising?

Minutes later, he arrived at the exact spot Kasumi normally visited. He had to meet this guy for himself, and he couldn't be too careful. As he looked around, he saw no one, meaning the mysterious man didn't arrive yet.

"Who are you?" Kaisuke asked from behind.

"WA!" Satoshi spun around, his hand on his katana. He was surprised when he recognized the man's face. "…Leo? Is that you?"

Kaisuke shook his head. "No. I'm not Leo, though I do know him."

"I see."

"What have you come here for?"

"A friend of mine has been visiting you lately, and she's been acting strangely ever since. Whatever you did to her is causing her grades in school to slip. Now, I don't hate you are anything, but I want to know what you've been doing with her."

Kaisuke read Satoshi's aura. According to the aura signature, Satoshi must have some sort of desire for Kasumi. Any of which should be immediately eliminated. "I see…so you are planning to steal my dream away from me. That…is something I cannot allow…"

"Your wha—AH!" Satoshi brought his sword up just in time to block Kaisuke's strike. "Why are you attacking me?"

"Anyone who plans to steal my dream shall be eliminated. I will make sure this area will be your final resting place." Kaisuke grabbed Satoshi's sword and shirt and hurled him into the lake. Using the ninja ability of controlling chakra, Satoshi managed to keep himself above the water. Satoshi was about to run back at Kaisuke when the water below him started swirling around him.

"What is this?" Satoshi inquired.

Kaisuke jumped high in the air and dove at Satoshi with his fist. "YOUR GRAVE!"

"Whoa!" Satoshi jumped out of the way just in time. Kaisuke's fist landed on the water, creating a big splash. However, the water didn't wall back down, but created 5 serpent-like water clones, each ferocious looking and deadly. Kaisuke emerged from the water, standing on one of them.

"Attack my beast!" He commanded. Two of the five water serpents dove at Satoshi to devour him.

"HM!" Satoshi jumped over one of the serpents and landed on the nose of the other, kicking off to gain more air time. Kaisuke punched into the serpent he was standing on with both arms, pulling out a crystal sword and arm gauntlet.

"RAA!" Kaisuke jumped off the serpent and attacked Satoshi with his sword.

"HM! HA!" Satoshi blocked the attacks with his own blade while in the air. He managed to land on a serpent while blocking and striking at Kaisuke. "Aqua Slash!" Satoshi stabbed his sword into the serpent he was standing on and slashed at Kaisuke with his sword, sending a wave of water with it.

"ARG!" Kaisuke blocked the blade attack, but couldn't see the water attack strike him since his eyes were still closed. He jumped away and commanded his serpents to surround and engulf Satoshi. The serpent under Satoshi bounced him upward and charged at him.

Satoshi quickly chanted a spell and flash his palms in Kaisuke's direction. "Aero Strike!" He used the wind to boost himself and dodge the serpent's strikes while diving at Kaisuke.

Kaisuke clapped his hands together and pressed it on the water. Suddenly, several long ice spikes shot from the water and at Satoshi.

"RAH! HA! EYAH! HIYA!" Satoshi slashed his way through the spike attacks and continued going towards Kaisuke.

"HM!" Kaisuke swung his blade at Satoshi's blade, parrying the attack and following up with a punch of his armored fist.

_SMACK!_

"AH!" Satoshi fell underwater, losing control over his chakra energy.

"GO!" Kaisuke commanded his serpents to dive underwater after Satoshi. In the meantime…

Underwater, Satoshi was in the fight of his life. He was getting pounded and attacked in repetitions from the surrounding water serpents. They just kept coming! Each time he slashed his sword at them, their wounds heal back because of the water. It was getting increasingly harder to hold his breath, and the fact he was fighting against regenerating beast didn't help.

Wait…water?

That was it!

The serpents circled Satoshi like hungry sharks, waiting for the right moment to make a final strike. Satoshi held the blade vertically in front of him. He only had one shot at this. The water dragons charged at him at the same time, ready to devour the samurai. Satoshi closed his eyes and poured as much of his energy as he could for the attack. When the dragons were close enough, he released the attack.

"THUNDER FLASH!" He yelled, the sound muffled by the water. The dragons were affected by the electric wave emitted from Satoshi's body and dissolved into the water. Satoshi quickly swam out the water before he ran out of air. When he jumped out the water, he nearly ran into an ice spike jutting out of the many spikes scattered about the watery jungle gym of spikes. Swiftly, he grabbed onto the spike and swung around it, landing on top.

"DIE!" Kaisuke shouted, lunging at Satoshi with his sword. Satoshi prepared to deflect it.

_SHATTER!_

The ice blade shattered Satoshi's wooden sword and cut his chest. "Thunder Flash!" Satoshi called out. Kaisuke was too close to dodge the attack.

_ZAP!_

"AAAH!" Kaisuke dropped to the water, but managed to stay above it. The electric wave made the all of the ice spikes shatter, causing Satoshi to fall. Before Satoshi could land, Kaisuke jumped at him and grabbed the front of his shirt. "You've used too much energy with that attack! Now I can be assured you will never steal my dream away from me!"

_SLAM!_

Kaisuke slammed Satoshi on the edge of the lake, causing great pain for the samurai. He then placed Satoshi underwater, attempting to drown him. Satoshi was too weak from using the Thunder Flash attack, and being slammed against the ground near the water took a lot out of him. This could be it.

Five minutes past, and Kaisuke could barely see his aura signature, meaning Satoshi was near death. He lifted Satoshi's unconscious body out of the water and aimed his blade at him. "This is it for you, dream stealer. Farewell!"

"SATOSHI!" Someone suddenly yelled. Kaisuke had a look of surprise on his face as he noticed a familiar aura approaching quickly, but he noticed something different about her, something he missed.

Kasumi snatched Satoshi from Kaisuke's grip and gently laid him on the ground. "Satoshi! Wake up! Don't die on me!" She placed her ear against Satoshi lung area. He wasn't breathing. She pinched Satoshi's nose together and opened his mouth slightly, performing CPR. She continued to resuscitate him for over three minutes with no sign of stopping. Suddenly, Satoshi coughed and spluttered water, heaving for air.

"Ack! Huh..?" When Satoshi regained focus from his blurry eyes, the first thing he saw was Kasumi's teary eyes. "H-hey Kasumi. Are you alright?"

_POW!_

"ARG!" Satoshi fell on his back, getting a fist in the face.

"You baka! You nearly drowned and you ask ME if I'm alright? How dumb are you?" She snapped.

"Well you didn't have to hit me so hard!" Satoshi suddenly realized it. She hit him… "You're back to normal. Good thing. I've missed the old Kasumi." He smiled serenely.

"Satoshi…" There was that smile again. He nearly drowned, yet he could smile like it was a good thing. Kasumi clenched her fist tightly, trembling. Satoshi was about to ask her what was wrong when the girl flung herself on top of Satoshi, sobbing uncontrollably. "You baka! Baka baka baka baka baka!"

"Uh…" Unsure of what to do, Satoshi slowly wrapped his arms around Kasumi, trying to calm her down. "Kasumi? I kinda get the picture…" He said jokingly.

"So…" Kaisuke said suddenly, catching their attention. "You…aren't my dream after all…" Slowly, he opened his eyes, revealing his beautiful golden eyes. "I'm deeply sorry for the trouble I've caused you two. Thankfully, you've broken me out of my nightmare." He directed his attention towards Kasumi. "I thank you for releasing me. Perhaps I should explain. I thought you were a loved one from my home since you have the same kind of aura. I failed to notice the distinct difference between the two."

"So…you didn't love me…but you loved someone who was like me?" Kasumi asked, a little surprised.

"Yes." Kaisuke turned around and began to depart. "Hopefully if we meet again, it will be on friendlier terms…Satoshi…" With that, he disappeared.

Kasumi stood up, staring towards the lake. She was willing to admit that her feelings for Kaisuke was that of a big crush. But just like Shigeru told her, rushing for affection would only cause pain. While she did feel just slightly hurt, she knew in no time, she would be over it. Not only that, but she realized she had the ability to have a crush. That feeling of being wanted, to be with someone who shares her affections, she wished to feel that again. It felt so right and secure. One thing she also realized was that if it wasn't for Satoshi showing kindness and caring towards her, she wouldn't have been able to experience those emotions, and probably never would have. Her heart just opened up a little bit more.

Satoshi stretched, only to quickly clutch his injured chest. "Well, I'm glad that's over and done with. I suppose I'll just…guh…!" He fell on one knee, too weakened from the battle to move properly.

Kasumi sighed with annoyance as she grabbed Satoshi's arm and slung it over her shoulders. "You are so weak. Let me help you…"

"Hey! I'm not weak. I was just…preparing a new kind of stretch!"

Kasumi tossed him a flat look, clearly showing she didn't believe him. "Let's go muscle man. I'll drop you off at your house." Kasumi wrapped her free arm around Satoshi's waist while the other held Satoshi's other arm to maintain balance. As they walked towards Satoshi's apartment, a small blush appeared on Kasumi's cheeks. She placed a small kiss on Satoshi's cheek, making him blush as well. "Thanks Satoshi…for everything…"

Satoshi smiled and locked his fingers with Kasumi's hands. "No problem. Hey…you could stay at my place if you want…you don't have to go all the way back to your house."

Kasumi tossed Satoshi a heartfelt smile. "I'll take you up on that." The two continued their advance towards the dorm.

Elsewhere, Kaisuke entered an apartment and lay on the bed, sighing exhaustedly. That battle used up just about all of his strength. "I should've realized those were your friends. I failed to notice that girl wasn't _her_."

Suddenly, Kaisuke's body started changing, shrinking in size and changing his identity completely! "It's alright. For a moment, I thought it was her too…" Leo's eyes fluttered to a close. A few minutes passed before he fell asleep, dreaming about a special someone.

"I love you so much…sister…"

* * *

Man, I surprised myself with this chapter! Of course, this is another one of those chapters I've wanted to write. Okay, a few things to clear up: 

1 – Leo is NOT Max! Keep in mind, Max's Japanese name is Masato, and his hair is black, not silver. According to some sources, Wes's (from Pokémon coliseum) Japanese name is Leo.

2 – Definitions:

Gomen nasai – Sorry

Oyasumi – Good night

Arigatou – Thank you

Baka – Idiot

Bishonen – handsome boy

Please review if you liked this chapter (which I'm sure you did)

P.S. I forgot to do this last chapter, but I gotta give props to "Satoshi Vash D. Kuwabara III" for idea".


	17. Pokemon Adventures Volume 1: Rat Race

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon. My god…17 chapters and I still need to say this? What's wrong with you crazy lawyers? 

If there was anything I've realized is that I haven't paid enough respect to the Pokémon in this fic. They were mainly just extra scenes or jokes in the fic. Thankfully, I plan to make this chapter focused on our favorite team's Pokémon! Enjoy!

* * *

Raigeki awoke from his restful sleep, ready to start his daily routine of terrorizing his favorite human partner, Satoshi. He fell asleep on the comfortable couch in the dining room, which was his favorite spot to sleep. Strangely, it seemed quiet today. Seeing nothing better to do, the Pikachu jumped off the couch and made his way towards Satoshi's room, only to once again find Satoshi in a compromising situation 

Satoshi was lying on his side, sleeping on the bed. In front of him was Kasumi, sleeping with her back against Satoshi. Satoshi's arm was wrapped loosely around Kasumi's waist. Since they were on top of the covers, it was easy to guess they were too tired and just fell asleep on the bed. The best part of all was that the scene was already set up for Satoshi and Kasumi's mortification ceremony!

'Sheesh, what is with these two? Do they purposely want to get set up with a wake-up call?' Raigeki thought incredulously. Seeing this as a perfect opportunity, the electric mouse quickly ran to the top of the desk where Zohl's Pokéball was and quickly left the room. In the dining room, Raigeki summoned the still-sleeping Marowak. The rodent tapped his foot on the floor impatiently. A thunder shock wouldn't affect him, and yelling would wake everyone else up as well. But that's when he thought of a clever way to awaken the bone keeper.

Raigeki leaned towards Zohl's ear, grinning mischievously. "Whoa…I didn't know a female Marowak's body could move like that! She looks really hot under that mask too…"

"HUH?" Zohl jumped up from his sleep, looking very alert. After a good minute of searching, he came to the sudden realization that he was tricked; though it might have also been the fact that Raigeki was laughing his head off. "That was not funny!" Zohl chastised, feeling embarrassed.

"Relax Zohl-kun. I woke you up for a special treat!"

"If it isn't better than a mask-less Marowak, I'll club you to death for waking me up!"

"But it is! Just take a look yourself!" Raigeki motioned Zohl to follow him, which he did.

When Zohl saw the position Satoshi and Kasumi were in, he sighed inwardly. "These two are just begging for trouble." He tossed his ally Pokémon a knowing glance. "What diabolical plot did you come up with this time?"

Raigeki tapped his chin in thought for a few moments, and then answered. "None."

"Oh? He who is always full of tricks has none for our favorite twosome?"

"Nah. There are so many things I can do to them that I can't think of which to use. But then again…"

"Ah ha! So you do have something planned!"

"Now, now, it's merely a thought. What if we had a picture of them like this? It would be the ultimate blackmail!"

"Hmm…I like it, but who do we know that has such equipment?"

Both Pokémon began to ponder who would have the equipment required. It was then they both realized who it was that had such things. "Yuuki-kun!"

"But isn't he gone now?" Zohl asked.

"Ah, while that's true, don't forget, he moved in with Haruka-chan. She should have his remaining stuff. That is if it hasn't already been thrown out or something. Come on Zohl, let's move!" Raigeki and Zohl both left the apartment and made their way towards Haruka's apartment. Luckily, it was the weekend and early morning, so there was plenty of time for the plans to be made.

Inside Haruka's apartment, Kiza and Fiona were out of their Pokéballs, watching Haruka sleep in Yuuki's room. Ever since Yuuki left, Haruka continued to sleep in his room, the only place that seemed to bring her true comfort. Unfortunately, she still looked very depressed whenever she was reminded of him. However, Haruka wasn't the only one who was disheartened over the disappearance of Yuuki.

Kiza sighed as she rested on Yuuki's bed, snuggling against Haruka's side. Lately, she had been sad with Kusanagi's disappearance. She missed the cute little Mudkip with the hopelessly goofy smile. As she was lying next to Haruka, she watched Fiona sit on the chair, leaning against Yuuki's desk. Fiona's expression was always changing from one thing to another. Anger, sadness, confusion, and so many more expressions, but most of the time, Fiona would have a stoic expression. Not once did she have any positive emotions so far, which annoyed Kiza.

"Pst, Fiona!" Kiza whispered. She frowned when Fiona didn't answer. This was also something she had noticed. Fiona was always staring off into space, hardly paying attention to anything. What was on the girl's mind that was so important she would ignore everything else? "Fiona!" Kiza said louder. That was enough to jerk Fiona out of her thoughts.

"What is it?" Fiona asked.

"What's with you spacing out all the time? And you're always changing your face! Quite frankly, it's been driving me nuts!"

"Really? Oh…gomen nasai."

Kiza sighed as she carefully jumped off the bed and up on the table next to the Gardevoir. "So tell me, what's on your mind?"

Fiona turned stoic as she averted her eyes. "Nothing…"

'Yeah right… nothing is what got her spacing out.' Kiza thought wryly. She needed something to determine what was on her mind. A keyword, something, anything! Or maybe, someone… "Tell me, are you thinking about Vash-kun?"

"No, I'm not." The psychic answered nervously.

Nervousness, a key sign that something involving Vash was on Fiona's mind. Now Kiza was getting somewhere! She needed more though, more information. "Are you worried about him?"

"No, not at all!" Fiona answered quickly.

Defensive and excited. Kiza definitely hit it on the mark. But for Fiona to be this worried about him, did this mean what she thought it meant? "Fiona? Are you…" She went close enough to a nearly inaudible whisper. "…In love with Vash-kun?"

Fiona's face flustered immediately. "What is with these questions all of the sudden?" She hissed.

"Well, are you?" Kiza asked again, ignoring Fiona's previous question.

"Of course I…" Fiona was about to say she didn't, but did she even know the answer to that? True, things were rather dull without Vash, and he would always manage to brighten her day, but to actually go as far as to love him? She couldn't be. If anything, she preferred someone who would actually be useful. But then, did she truly know Vash? When had she even considered what he was really like? Sometimes, someone would put up a front to prevent people from knowing the real them. Could he be one of those people? But wait, what if...

"Hello! Earth to Fiona!" Kiza called in a loud whisper.

"Huh?" Fiona jumped. "What is it?"

"There you go again! You just spaced out and completely forgot what I asked you!"

"No, it's not that I forgot, but really I…um…well…" Fiona was searching for anything to buy time. Kiza would keep pestering her until she got the answer she wanted.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

'Thank goodness!' Fiona thought, relieved. "I'll get that!" She hurriedly got up and left the room. When she opened the door, she was greeted by two unexpected guest.

"What's up?" Raigeki greeted merrily.

"Hello Zohl-kun and Raigeki-kun. What can I do for you two?"

"Do you have a camera we can borrow?"

"Oh, sure. Hang on one moment." Fiona closed the door for a moment, and soon returned with a small camera in hand. "Here it is. What kind of scheme do you and Zohl-kun have in mind this time?"

"I'm not doing anything. Raigeki-kun is the one who is pulling the strings. I'm just watching." Zohl corrected.

"Hey, I didn't do anything this time! They were like that when I got there!" Raigeki defended.

"Yeah, I'm sure…" Fiona rolled her eyes. She was about to lend the camera when she remembered a certain pestering fox awaiting her return. "Say, do you think I can come along?"

Zohl raised his eyebrow. "This is a surprise. I figured you weren't into this kind of thing."

"I could say the same for you Zohl-kun."

"You try not to after being with Raigeki-kun for so long."

"Good point."

"Come on! Let's hurry before Satoshi-kun wakes up!" The three Pokémon made their way towards Satoshi's apartment at a brisk pace. Halfway there, Raigeki bumped into someone and fell backwards. "Hey, watch where you're going ya baka!" Raigeki snapped angrily.

"Oh no, um…I-I'm sorry for bumping into you." A timid, blue ghost Pokémon apologized. Her main body resembled the head of a woman, with shy red eyes and equally red beaded necklace. The tips of her hair were purple. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, no thanks to you bumping into me." Raigeki rubbed his tail tenderly.

"I'm really, really, really, really sorry!" The ghost apologized again.

"Raigeki-kun! Be nicer to her!" Fiona reprimanded.

"Say, aren't you a Misdreavus?" Zohl inquired to the ghost.

The female phantom nodded. "Yes I am. You are very observant."

"Psh, yeah, when it comes to the female species, he's especially observant." Raigeki scoffed.

"Watch it, rat!" Zohl warned, annoyed.

"W-well, I should be going now. H-have a nice day!" The Misdreavus floated away from the group swiftly.

"Well, she was in a hurry." Fiona mused.

"Anyway, let's hurry and head to Sato-kun's house and…huh?" Raigeki started checking himself and searching everywhere, slowly starting to panic.

"What's wrong? Missing something?" Zohl asked.

"The camera…it's gone!"

"Nani? But you just had it!" Fiona pointed out.

Raigeki crossed his arms, trying to go about the situation calmly. "Let's see, the last time I remember holding onto it was right before we bumped into that Misdreavus…"

Fiona held her chin thoughtfully. "Come to think of it, that Misdreavus seemed to be in quite a hurry."

"Wait…I think I know what happened…" Zohl spoke up.

Raigeki nodded. "Yeah, me too." Zohl and Fiona faced the mouse, who had a serious look on his face. "That Misdreavus…must've seen the guy and was chasing after him to give it back to us."

Fiona and Zohl face-faulted. "You baka! That Misdreavus is the one who stole it in the first place!" They shouted.

"Okay, okay! Don't bite my head off! Alright, so if anything, we gotta find that Misdreavus. But first, we need a search party. Just the three of us will be difficult."

"That's true. Do you have a plan then?" Fiona inquired.

Raigeki grinned. "Of course I do! But first, we need to gather up our forces. Fiona-chan, I need you to go back and fetch Kiza-chan. Zohl-kun; go back to Satoshi-kun's house and gather up all the Pokémon you can. I'll go to Leo-kun's apartment and fetch his Pokémon. When the team is gathered, we'll meet back here. Everyone clear on that?" When Fiona and Zohl nodded in confirmation, all three scattered to perform their duties.

With his high agility, Raigeki quickly arrived at Leo's apartment. He opted to knock on the door when he found it unlocked. As he went inside, he looked around the apartment. There was little furniture, very little appliances, and an almost endless supply of books and research material. Leo must have been a real geek to have so many books piled around. As he turned a corner, he found Leo reading a book. Raigeki scoffed. What dork would study during a weekend?

"Hey, Leo-kun! Listen up for a second!" Raigeki pleaded.

"Hm?" Leo glanced over at the mouse Pokémon curiously. "How did you get inside? And aren't you Satoshi's Pokémon? What are you doing out of a Pokéball?"

"No time for that! Look, I'll explain this as simple as possible…"

While Leo was intelligent, he never took the Pokésync, since his school never gotten the pills, so all he could hear was: "Pika! Pika pikapi pikachu! Pikachu!" Quite frankly, he was clueless. "What is it you want?"

"Arg, blasted human!" Raigeki noticed a Pokéball clung onto Leo's belt. There was only one there, and hopefully Leo would get the message.

Leo watched Raigeki as pointed to his Pokéball. "I see. Alright, I'll call my Pokémon out for you." With that, Leo unclipped the Pokéball and summoned a purple, cat like Pokémon with long ears and a tail that forked at the end. A red jewel was embedded in its forehead. "Espeon. Go ahead and follow Satoshi's little pet, while I work on some things here. I'm too busy to be bothered."

Raigeki growled in agitation. How dare he call him a pet? If Leo wasn't Satoshi's teammate, he would've been burnt to a crisp by now. "What an arrogant little snot head!"

"He just doesn't like to be bothered while working." The purple cat Pokémon informed with a monotone voice. Her voice crept Raigeki out a little bit.

"Well, hi! I'm Raigeki! Nice to meet cha!" Raigeki greeted, grinning cheekily.

"…I'm Esca." Esca said simply.

'Man, could this Espeon sound any cheerier?' Raigeki thought sardonically.

"I could, but I prefer not to." Esca answered, tossing the Pikachu a frighteningly stiff glare.

"Whoops! Didn't know you had PSP."

"ESP, I have ESP." Esca corrected.

"Whatever, I suppose that'll help in the long run. Follow me! We've got a situation to take care of!" The two Pokémon scampered off to the meeting spot.

Five minutes later, Kiza, Fiona, Baiken, Mikado, Django, Kisaragi, Shadow, Esca and Zohl lined up in front of Raigeki, who stood in front of them, pretending to be a drill sergeant giving off his orders. Surprisingly, he even had a green helmet to go with his theme. "Alright men…" He was about to continue when the females of the group tossed Raigeki a glare. "…and ladies, we've got a criminal to catch! A little over 10 minutes ago, a ghost Pokémon known as Misdreavus stole our camera, which is a despicable crime which should not go unpunished. Unfortunately, the criminal fled the scene, along with the camera in possession. I've gathered you 9 for the task of hunting down and—DJANGO! STAY AWAKE!" Raigeki yelled.

"Huh…?" Django sat up and looked more focused. "Oh, sorry, you were boring me a bit there."

"This is a serious matter! Now, as I was saying, the plan I have in mind is simple yet effective. Since there are 10 of us, we'll split into groups of 2. Search everywhere among the campus grounds for the Misdreavus. Any clues you find will be vital. You all have one hour to find any possible clues. Afterwards, we'll meet back here and discuss our next course of action. Do I make myself—DJANGO! I SAID STAY AWAKE!" Raigeki sent a small, but painful jolt of electricity at the Arcanine, causing him to yelp in pain.

"Can't you tell I'm trying to sleep here?"

"That's what I'm trying to prevent in the first place!"

"Anyway, so we got a thief we're trying to find, right?" Baiken inquired, interrupting Raigeki and Django's feud. The Combusken had recently evolved to her final stage, a Blaziken. There were red rings of fire around her wrist and her legs had red and orange patterns, resembling flare jeans.

"Correct. Now, I've thought of the perfect group set up. It will be the following Pokémon:

Team 1 – Kiza and Fiona  
Team 2 – Baiken and Mikado  
Team 3 – Django and Kisaragi  
Team 4 – Shadow and Esca  
Team 5 – Raigeki and Zohl

Each team will scour each department of the school. This way, we should be able to cover more ground. Everyone clear on that? Good, now let's move out!" The Pokémon scattered to scour the school.

Team 1 headed for the magic arts department. As Fiona and Kiza passed by a few classes, they could see a few class C and lower students practicing their magic attacks and spell incantations. Others were reading books or chatting among themselves. Besides the normal decoration of magical charms and special runes on the floor, wall and ceiling, the halls were normal. Some runes and charms were just for decoration, while others weren't.

While Kiza was looking for clues of a thieving ghost, she kept taking quick glances at Fiona, who was concentrating on finding the ghost. No matter how hard she tried, she could never figure Fiona out. It was as though her mind was some kind of labyrinth shrouded in a shadow. It was a wonder how Fiona managed to organize her thoughts.

"Wait…" Fiona stopped suddenly, motioning Kiza to do the same. "I sense an astral presence in the area. I think we've found our ghost." Sure enough, the Misdreavus floated by with the camera hanging on her neck. Luckily, the ghost didn't see Fiona and Kiza yet. "Alright, if we sneak up on the ghost carefully, we might be able to—"

"Hey Fiona! Isn't that the camera we've been looking for?" Kiza asked loudly, letting their presence be known to the Misdreavus.

"UGH!" Fiona face-faulted. No use trying to go about it with stealth now. "That's her! Get that camera!"

'Oh no! They caught me!' In a panic, the blue ghost started running away, with the other two Pokémon hot on her trail.

"Hey man, check this out!" One mage said to another, flashing a dazzling orange crystal with a fire insignia inside the stone. "It's a fire stone! I just got it from my dad today!"

"Ah! No way! That's so cool! I'm just learning about evolution stones this week! They say that if you touch certain Pokémon with it, they'll evolve. Man, that'll be the coolest thing ever!"

"Don't I know it? I wonder what kind of Pokémon could evolve from it." No sooner than that, the Misdreavus zoomed past the two students. "Whoa!" The student yelped in surprise, accidentally launching the stone.

"She made a turn at this corner!" Kiza, being the faster of the two, was turning at a corner when the stone smashed into her face, causing her to tumble into a supply closet, the door closing her inside.

"Kiza!" Fiona cried, approaching the door. She was startled when a bright white flash slipped through the cracks of the door. What could have happened? "Kiza, are you alright? Answer me!" She knocked a few times on the door, hoping the fire fox was unharmed. However, she was in for a big surprise when the door opened. An elegant white fox with nine long and fluffy tails emerged from the closet, her red eyes startled and dazed.

"Whoa…what a rush!" The Ninetails said in surprise.

Fiona stared at the fox in surprise. "Kiza…? Is that you?"

"Well, yeah. Why do you look so surprised? And why do I feel so different?"

"Uh...look at your tails…"

"My tails?" Kiza looked back at her flowing tails and gasped with delight. "I…I evolved. I EVOLVED! WOOHOO!" She suddenly burst into a fit of joy, bouncing and hoping around.

"Um…I know you're happy and all, but we still have a Misdreavus to catch. Err…Kiza?" Apparently, the newly evolved Ninetails was having too much fun with the thought of being evolved to listen to what the psychic had to say. With a sigh, Fiona whirled around and continued her chase after the Misdreavus.

Barely a few minutes of cutting corners lead Fiona near the fleeting phantom. She tried landing a few psychic attacks on her, but the Misdreavus dodged left and right swiftly, avoiding any psychic hits. However, this only irritated the psychic.

"Quit dodging and stand still you stupid ghost!" Fiona grinned evilly as the ghost was soon cornered at a dead end. "Hehehe, I have you now! KYAAA!" She lunged at the ghost.

"EEP!" The Misdreavus, fearing the menacing look on Fiona's face, flew through the wall behind her. Fiona sweat-dropped as she soon found herself heading straight for the wall. This was going to hurt…

_WHAM!_

Fiona slammed face first on the wall and fell on her back, a dizzied and pained look in her eyes. She was certainly going to feel that one when she awoke…

With Team 2, they were investigating the martial arts department while searching for the whereabouts of the stolen camera. So far, the investigation wasn't going anywhere, which might have been because Mikado picked the wrong location to bring Baiken.

"Hey, you with the face!" Baiken called out a random fighting Pokémon. "You know something we don't, don't you?"

The Machoke blinked in confusion. "Pardon?"

"Come on, you obviously know about the thief!"

"…What are you talking about?"

"Wanna play dumb huh? So be it!" Baiken took on an offensive battle stance, the fire rings around her wrist brightening. "I'll fight you for that info! Bring it on!"

"Alright, that's enough." The newly evolved Feraligatr sighed. She was much taller and more powerful than her previous stage, a trail of red spikes going down her back from the top of her head. She grabbed Baiken's hand and started dragging her away. "We're supposed to be looking for a ghost, not a fight. Now get with the program!"

"Okay, I get it, you can let go now!"

Mikado released the battle-eager fire/fighting type Pokémon. "Really, you can be such a headache. The minute you see someone strong you want to pound the guy into oblivion. Gee, it's a wonder how your race ever finds a mate without scaring him off…" She commented the last sentence to herself.

"I was just trying to help find information in my own way."

"Yeah, beating the source of information into a bloody pulp is a real good way to get info." Mikado rolled her eyes. "That's what you said 6 times ago. I would think the security guards would've noticed a few Pokémon and students missing by now."

"Well, I know I hid the bodies well enough…"

"Excuse me?" Mikado inquired, sweat-dropping fiercely.

Baiken raised her hands defensively. "Nothing!"

"Hm?" Mikado glanced at the side and noticed Anji from Team Rocket, training with his Pokémon. "Hey, isn't that Anji over—oops!" She quickly clasped her hand over her mouth.

"AHA! I bet he knows where to find the culprit!" Baiken dashed quickly at the unsuspecting Team Rocket member.

'No! If she goes over there, then we'll never find that ghost!' Mikado held onto the fiery chicken by the waist, trying to hold her back. A minute into the struggle, a familiar ghost Pokémon appeared and glanced curiously at Mikado and Baiken. The giant alligator noticed the ghost. "Hey, could you give me a hand here? I need to stop my friend from mauling someone."

"Um…okay." The Misdreavus used her telekinetic powers to aid Mikado into holding back Baiken. A few minutes later, Baiken was restrained by her Pokémon ally by being held in a tight bear hug from behind, constricting her arms.

"Well, hey, thanks for helping us out. Say, did you happen to see anyone running around with a camera?"

"N-n-no, no one." The Misdreavus lied.

"Well, alright. Thanks for your help. See ya." Mikado gave a nod to the ghost Pokémon, who immediately ran away. She soon turned her attention to Baiken, who was thrashing in her arms. "You and I are going to have a little talk outside this department!" While dragging the Blaziken, a thought suddenly clicked in the back of her mind. 'Hm, why do I get the feeling that I should feel stupid? Oh well, it's probably just my imagination.'

Team 3's investigation soon brought them to the ninja arts department, which was a mixture of many things. While a few of the rooms looked normal, many other halls lead to a series of obstacle courses, target practice rooms, and some even led to special outdoor courses and weapon's testing rooms, which was the current room Django and Kisaragi were examining.

"Hey Kisaragi, did you find anything?" Django asked, searching under the tables, which had a few items on top, including Kunais and sleep powder.

"No. Did you?"

"Nah, but I wish I found some awesome chicks, rather than some dumb ghost…that is, unless the ghost was a hot chick, than that'll be great, know what I mean?" Django joked.

"No, I don't." Kisaragi answered nonchalantly, paying no mind to the Arcanine.

"Don't be like that! You're a guy like me! I know you think of chicks at least once a day. I mean, what guy doesn't?"

"Hmph, I don't bother with such trivial things. They're nothing but a waste of my time."

"Yeah, yeah, you say that NOW, but I just know you got your mind on them once in a while. I know you do!"

"I don't and wish not to. I do not plan on changing that fact, so don't bother trying." Just then, another Pokémon entered the room.

"Hey, who are you two?" A grey dog with a black mane demanded. Her red eyes flashed with a serious and demanding attitude.

"We're looking for a thief. Pardon our intrusion." Kisaragi informed.

"Hmm…" The Mightyena approached the Absol and stared long and hard at his emotionless and cold eyes. "You remind me of myself. I find you quite interesting." With that, she turned around and was about to leave when she glanced at Kisaragi at the corner of her eye. "I'm not too busy at the moment, so when you get the chance, stop by and see me." The dark Pokémon left. There was a moment of silence.

Kisaragi shrugged and went back to searching. "…It's obviously something not worth my time."

"True enough." Django agreed.

"…It's just a waste of time, not worthy of my presence."

"Can't argue with that."

"…I'm not going and that will be the end of it."

"I wouldn't expect anything less." A minute of silence passed between the two.

"…10 minutes."

"My lips are sealed." Django grinned as he watched Kisaragi walking towards the door.

"…I'm just going to have a small chat."

"I'm sure you are."

"……It's only conversation, nothing more."

"I believe you."

"………You're never going to let me live it down, are you?"

"Not on your life." With that, Django decided to fill in for Kisaragi, who ran ahead for his scheduled "chat". After five minutes of searching, Django was about to leave when he noticed some white powder on the table. After making sure no one was around, he took a quick whiff of the powder.

Bad idea.

Suddenly, he felt his head start to spin, putting him in a state of euphoria. "Whew! Whatever this stuff is, it rocks! I always knew ninjas had the good stuff!"

It was then the Misdreavus appeared in the weapon's testing room, noticing a disturbing looking Arcanine squirming on the ground, a huge grin on his face. Proceeding to ignore the seemingly crazed fire dog, she took some of the weapons and supplies and put it inside a small bag she was carrying, which also held the camera.

"Hey!" Django called out suddenly, scaring the ghost. "…No need to rush, there's plenty of me to go around, hehehe…."

"Uh…" Preferring not to think about what the Arcanine was dreaming about, the ghost quickly fled with her stolen items.

With Team 4, they were one of the few who were making some actual progress. Some of the Pokémon roaming with their human partners spoke of a blue ghost appearing in the samurai dojo. The halls of the samurai dojo were normal but vast, and half of the rooms were training studios for students. Shadow and Esca had been looking around the dojo hallway for the past 30 minutes, but still couldn't find any sign of the ghost. While Esca was doing a good job at hunting down thief, Shadow seemed to have his sights on someone else, namely the Espeon. During the entire search, Shadow kept taking quick glances at his female partner and looked away when he felt she was about to look at him.

"Why do you keep doing that?" Esca asked. Even though her voice was monotone, she was curious yet agitated.

"Huh? Doing what?" Shadow inquired innocently.

"You have been staring at me ever since we started searching for the thief."

'Crap! She saw me?' Shadow started sweating bullets. "Well, I wasn't staring or anything. I was just checking to see if you are okay."

"We haven't participated in a battle. I fail to see why I would not be alright."

"I didn't mean anything like that. I was just, you know, checking to see if you needed anything, or if you were uncomfortable."

"I'm fine."

"Well, that's good then." Shadow sighed as he and Esca continued through the halls.

5 minutes later, Esca caught Shadow at it again. "Why are you staring at me this time?"

"Oh, err, um, uh…" Shadow rummaged through his head for an answer that would hopefully please Esca. "It's…your…orb thingy embedded on your forehead. Yeah, that's it! I was just wondering what that is."

"That is my third eye, which gives me the ability to read air signatures, allowing me to predict my opponent's movements. It also provides me with psychic abilities."

"Oh, okay."

As the two walked on, they started crossing the culinary portion of the samurai department. Cooking is an important aspect to learning how to use a sword. Knowing where to cut something and learning how to prepare your own meals is crucial to a samurai's survival in and out of a battlefield. There weren't many students inside since it was a weekend, but there was still some activity and maintenance going on.

Team 4 was about to pass by when they noticed someone taking food from a refrigerator. Esca's sixth sense detected a phantasmal being in the area, a ghost. Shadow and Esca slowly crept side by side as they approached the being that was stealing from the fridge. When the door to the fridge close, the Misdreavus noticed the other two Pokémon and gasped. She was caught.

"Hand over your possessions immediately." Esca demanded threateningly. In a panic, the Misdreavus tried to run away by going through the wall.

"Pursuit!" Shadow called. Instantly, the dark type Pokémon moved like a shadow, undetectable and swift, appearing beside the ghost and tackled her, causing super effective damage.

When the Misdreavus got tackled, some of the food from her bag fell out. One in particular was a jar of strawberry jam. It shattered on an adjacent table and caused most of the substance to fall on the unfortunate Espeon, drenching her in strawberry goodness.

Deciding to take the initiative, Esca's eyes glowed blue as she prepared a psychic attack to take down the Misdreavus. Suddenly, her instincts detected danger in her area. Her attention was directed to the Umbreon, whose eyes lit up brighter than fireworks. Deciding to follow her instincts, Esca knew what she had to do.

Run.

"Come back my strawberry princess! Let me savor your essence!" Shadow cried, chasing after Esca. The Misdreavus decided to use this time to make her leave with whatever items she had left in her possession.

After the hour passed, Team 5 were making their way back to the meeting point, unfortunately finding no clues about any ghost Pokémon in the universal department. However, when they arrived and saw the other Pokémon, they could not help but feel both curious and surprised. With Team 1, Fiona had a thick bandage on her forehead in a "X" mark formation, and she was standing next to a Ninetails, who could not stop beaming with joy. Baiken from Team 2 seemed to be seething over something while Mikado had a confused yet irritated look on her face. From Team 3, Kisaragi looked a little exhausted and flustered and Django staggered left and right in a drunken fashion. Team 4's Esca was drenched in some reddish substance and continuously had to punch and push Shadow away, who was trying to lick to sticky residue off her.

In other words, they looked pathetic.

"What happened to all you guys?" Raigeki questioned, bewildered.

"…Nothing…" Team 1 through 4 chimed with their heads downcast.

"What about the ghost? Any clues?"

"Team 1, 3 and 4 said they seen the ghost. If anything, we've lost track of the thief." Fiona informed.

Raigeki slapped his paws together angrily "Kuso! We got to find that blasted ghost!" He then noticed everyone staring oddly in his direction, a look of surprise on their faces. "Hm? Something wrong?"

Zohl turned around and his jaw dropped behind you. "Raigeki-kun! Look!"

When Raigeki turned around, he saw the Misdreavus passing by, heading out the school grounds. Feeling that she was being watched, the ghost-type turned around and stared at the 10 Pokémon in shock. There was a moment of stillness…

"Ahem…" Raigeki calmly took a deep breath. "…GET THAT GHOST!"

"EEK!" The Misdreavus started running away, being chased by a horde of angry, hostile Pokémon. As the thief fled into the Kage forest, the Pokémon behind her threw a barrage of different attacks, trying to take her down. As the chase went on, everyone eventually lost track of the ghost. After some decision making, they decided to split up and search.

Fiona was searching for the ghost when she saw a blue blur slipping by her vision. It was the Misdreavus! She followed her and ended up at a cave, which was dark except for the small seams of light that filtered the cavern. The Gardevoir traversed fearlessly into the cavern's depths, determined to get back the camera.

At one point, Fiona was about to make a turn when she saw the Misdreavus and a student from Arcadia, someone of the magic department. She peered over the two from the corner, attempting to listen in under the cover of the stone cavern wall.

"Did you get what I asked for?" The female mage requested with a snarl.

"U-um, I have much stuff, but some of the food was lost when some Pokémon found me, and…"

"What? What's this?" The woman picked up a jar of jam.

_SHATTER!_

Fiona gasped under her breath when the mage tossed the glass jar at the Misdreavus's head, a direct hit. "I told you to get the good stuff, not this crap!" The woman snapped harshly.

The timid ghost whimpered, but didn't dare shed tears. "Go-gomen."

"Sorry isn't good enough for a pathetic Pokémon like you! Tch, you are so weak and stupid. I tried to make you useful by getting you to steal stuff, but you even fail in that! If it wasn't for the school laws, I would've tossed you like the trash you are." The girl narrowed her eyes at the Pokémon, seeing a small trail of tears. She conjured a small fire ball in her hand. "What…did…I…tell…you…about…CRYING?" With a toss, the fire ball struck the Pokémon in the face, burning her. The Misdreavus said nothing as she clenched her eyes in pain, more tears spilling. "The only thing I despise more than a weakling like you is a wimp that doesn't stop crying!" The mage tossed several more fire balls at the ghost.

_WHOOSH!_

"What the?" The woman stepped back in surprise when Fiona appeared in front of the Misdreavus by using teleport and blocked the flames with her psychic powers. "Who the hell are you?"

"You…" Fiona growled through gritted teeth. Her fists were throbbing from her immeasurable fury. "How dare you treat a Pokémon so cruelly? They are all living creatures like you and I. They are not servants, or slaves, but are beings that coexist with one another. You have no compassion, love, or kindness. You are driven by hate and power. Such a pathetic human like you needs to be taught a lesson." She glared dangerously at the mage, making her back up with caution. "Before either of us leaves this cave, I'll make you pay for your crimes 100 fold!"

"That's big words for a single Pokémon!" The mage shot, unclipping a Pokémon from her belt. "How about we decide this with a battle? If you win, I'll turn myself in. If I win, you keep quiet and leave us alone. How does that sound?"

Fiona glanced behind herself at the Misdreavus, who was curious, shocked, and grateful at the same time. "How about this? Including those conditions, if I win, the Misdreavus comes with me."

"And if I win?"

"If you win, I'll become your Pokémon."

"Hehehehe, you got guts. So be it! This will be a one-on-one match. I hope you're ready, because we start now! Grangash, Let's go!" The mage tossed the ball and summoned the Pokémon. Fiona's eyes widened with shock. It was an opponent she wasn't expecting to fight.

A Scyther.

She felt herself freeze up, her mind being flooded with the thoughts about Vash. For a brief moment, she felt ecstatic at seeing a Scyther, who reminded her of Vash.

The mage decided to take advantage of Fiona's daze. "Grangash, use Pursuit!"

"HAH!" Grangash yelled, rushing Fiona with his blades.

"Look out!" The Misdreavus called, bringing Fiona out of her thoughts.

"Whoa!" Fiona slimly dodged the quick blade strike from Grangash. "Psywave!" She shot a series of psychic ring waves at Grangash, who dodged the attack and countered with his blades.

_SLASH!_

Fiona staggered from the Slash attack, a small cut on her shoulder. "Confusion!" With her powers, she constricted the Scyther's movements and lifted him up in the air with telekinesis. Her grip on Grangash was powerful, but as she was about to toss the Pokémon, her mind froze again. As she stared at the Scyther, all of her memories of Vash started overwhelming her mind, breaking her concentration. Her power waned enough for the Scyther to break free and attack Fiona with a Pursuit attack. The dark-type attack was super effective against the psychic-type Pokémon, causing moderate injury.

'What is wrong with me?' She made another attempt to use Confusion on Grangash, only to fail and get struck by another Pursuit attack. 'Why can't I concentrate?' The more she tried to concentrate on the fight, the more distracted she got. Of all the reasons, it just had to be the most annoying Scyther on the planet that was causing her to be so disorientated.

The Misdreavus watched as Fiona continued to get attacked and wasn't even putting up a good fight. Fiona was receiving more and more damage as the battle dragged on. The Misdreavus couldn't just watch and not do anything. Fiona was brave enough to stand up to someone she couldn't. The Gardevoir was out there, trying her best to win her freedom, and now was not the time to watch and wait. Action had to be taken!

"Gardevoir-san! You must fight!" The Misdreavus encouraged.

"I'm trying to, but I can't concentrate. GAH!" Fiona received another cut on her stomach.

"I know you can do it! You were strong and brave when you saved me earlier! When you did that, you didn't let anything distract you. You faced your demons and defeated them! Running away never solves anything. If you have something bothering you, you can't just ignore it and run away. You have to face it head on and go forward! Don't ignore it, confront it and be honest with yourself! You can do it!"

"Confront it and be honest…" The Misdreavus's words rung through Fiona's head like an echo. It was then she realized her immediate problem. She was running away from the fact she missed Vash. No, more than that. She loved Vash, more than anything. The truth was right in her face, but she turned blind eye to it and avoided it like a plague, but it was inevitable. She felt her cheeks grow warm from the thought. She was in love with Vash…

"Now Grangash, go for the final strike! Pursuit!" The enemy Mage commanded. The Scyther zipped towards Fiona for the final blow.

Fiona stood in place, her arms at her sides and her eyes closed. She still couldn't believe it. She had fallen for Vash. It seemed so impossible, so wrong, but also so incredible. It felt like a great weight was lifted off her shoulders.

Grangash was about to strike Fiona when her hands suddenly shot forward and clutched tightly on his neck. Her red eyes slowly opened and said it all.

She was livid.

"VASH, YOU JERK!" Fiona screeched sharply, landing a barrage of fury-powered Fire Punches. After all of the trouble she went through just because of Vash, he was surely going to feel her wrath!

The Misdreavus and mage both backed away in fear, watching the angered Gardevior pound the unfortunate Scyther into a smoldering heap. Whatever it was that got her angry, they didn't want to make the mistake of doing it again. After Grangash was knocked unconscious, Fiona blinked in surprised, still holding the Pokémon by the neck.

"…Oops! For a minute, I thought you were Vash. Hey, are you still breathing?" Fiona inquired to the on-the-brink-of-death Scyther.

The enemy mage face-faulted in surprise. Fiona didn't even realize what she did!

"Grr…" She recalled Grangash back in the Pokéball. Even though she was defeated and lost the bet, that didn't mean she lost completely. "Do it now!" She shouted suddenly.

"What?" Several streams of spider webs shot out of nowhere and wrapped around Fiona, immobilizing her. She attempted to break out using her psychic powers, only to realize that someone was interfering with her mind. Glancing upwards, she saw a big spider with black, yellow legs and a red, black body. Across from her was a fox-like Pokémon with a spoon in hand and a thick tail. "You cheated!"

"Heh, you know what they say, nice guys finish last. Now, I think I'll capture you before you can break free." The evil magician pulled out an empty Pokéball and enlarged it. "Alright, you're mine!" She tossed the ball towards Fiona, attempting to capture her. Fiona started to struggle harder as the ball was flying towards her, but the bindings combined with the psychic Pokémon Kadabra's Disable attack, she was rendered defenseless.

"Shadow Ball!"

_WHAM!_

"Gwah!" The Kadabra was struck in the face by the ghost-type attack, knocking him off balance. Fiona used the chance to stop the oncoming Pokéball and break free of the webbing.

Fiona glanced at the Misdreavus and smiled gratefully. "Thanks for the save!"

"Actually, it should be me thanking you Gardevior-san."

"Fiona will do just fine, but let's deal with the cheater first!" Fiona glanced upward and saw another String Shot attack coming at her from the Ariados. Before the attack could hit, she teleported away and charged up. "Psybeam!" The purple beam attack landed a direct hit on the Ariados, knocking it out in one hit. The Kadabra appeared behind Fiona, attempting to finish her with a powerful psychic attack.

_SLASH!_

The Kadabra suddenly fell unconscious, a deep cut on his chest. Everyone was surprised with the unforeseen attack. "Tch, such a weak opponent. You really are a disappointment for letting down your guard so easily." Kisaragi said, appearing on top of a stone boulder.

"Thunder Wave!" A wave of electricity shot from another location of the cavern and struck the enemy mage, paralyzing her. "Sorry we're late!" Raigeki apologized, now standing on top of the fallen mage.

'Raigeki-kun, Kisaragi-kun!" Fiona saw the rest of the Pokémon filing in also.

"Thank goodness you're alright. We heard what happened from Zohl, who followed you inside the cave. The minute we heard the situation, we rushed as fast as we could." Kiza joined Fiona's side. She turned around and smiled at the Misdreavus. "Don't worry about a thing. We'll make sure that bad woman will never bother ya again!"

"That's correct." An ominous voice spoke. Hayabusa appeared from the shadows and lifted the mage, placing her on his shoulder. "I saw everything from start to finish. Quite frankly, though you all shouldn't be away from your human partners, I'm rather impressed with your teamwork and the fact you caught this thief. I'll make sure her Pokémon are confiscated and she receives proper punishment. Now, I believe the camera in this bag over there belongs to you all." He dug into the bag of stolen goods and gave the camera inside to Raigeki. "Now, come with me and let's go back to the school."

"Okay!" Everyone chimed in unison.

While walking, Hayabusa stopped and turned to Fiona. "Ah yes, Fiona was it? Just to let you know, since you won your challenge earlier, I'll have the Misdreavus be assigned to your partner, so congratulations; you now have a new ally. Of course, with the partner and Pokémon's permission."

"I…I'll be more than happy to be with Fiona-sama!" The Misdreavus smiled.

"I don't mind. It will be great to have a new friend." Kiza agreed.

"Let's head back already. I gotta hurry back to Satoshi's place!" Raigeki whined.

"Sure, let's go." Hayabusa led the Pokémon back to the school, along with the criminal.

Once everything was settled, Kiza, Fiona and their new Misdreavus headed towards Haruka's apartment and Shadow decided to escort Esca back to Leo's apartment. However, with Raigeki and the rest, there was still one mission remaining. Raigeki, Zohl, Django, Kisaragi, Baiken and Mikado rushed towards Satoshi's apartment to take the picture they were trying to take in the first place. By the time the Pokémon arrived in Satoshi's room, they met with a startling discovery.

"Raigeki, where've you guys been?" Satoshi inquired.

"We've been waiting for you guys for awhile now. What happened?" Kasumi asked.

Raigeki and everyone else fell exhaustedly on the ground. "We've just been through hell and back...and all for nothing…"

"Huh?" Satoshi and Kasumi glanced at each other in confusion. One could only wonder why the Pokémon looked so worn out…

Elsewhere, Haruka had been listening to Fiona and Kiza's story about what happened. It was a strange story indeed, but two positive things came out of it: A new Pokémon and Kiza evolving. She knelt in front of the Misdreavus and nodded to Fiona, giving her the cue to speak for her.

"My name is Haruka Momiji. It is nice to meet you. What is your name?" Fiona translated.

"My name? It's Megumi. Nice to meet you Haruka-san." She greeted happily. Haruka placed her hand on top of Megumi's head and stroked patted her hair, smiling. Megumi smiled as well. She could get used to this.

* * *

I hope you liked this Pokémon-centered chapter! Please review and lemme know what you think! Stay tuned for the next chapter! 

Goman nasai – Sorry  
Nani – What  
Baka - idiot  
-sama – a formal honorific given to those of high respect  
-chan – an honorific given to females who you are friends with or have a close relationship with  
-kun – an honorific given to males, usually those who are older, also given to male friends

If you are confused about the Pokémon names, I'll post them in my bio for reference.


	18. Shadow hunters

Disclaimer: I don't own, doggone it! I do not own the original character "Ebi" in this chapter. Mikazuchi does, and yes I have his permission, so beat it!

* * *

"Okay, so in other words, we're completely broke." Satoshi said, letting the new information sink in his head. 

"Correct. We need some more income, and quick. I'm doing all I can, but we still need a bit more to cover some expenses." Shigeru confirmed. The two had been sitting at the kitchen table, going over their monthly budget. However, there was a sudden drop in the money used to pay for some necessities, which meant the Tajiris were in trouble.

Satoshi tossed his brother a knowing gaze. "Right, and tell me what, or should I say who, was the cause of all this?"

"Err…well…that's not important!" Shigeru dismissed quickly, sweating nervously. Satoshi sighed, knowing that a certain girlfriend of his must have had Shigeru buying all kinds of junk. "Now, now, don't fret, I have an idea. How about you show Leo-kun how we make money? I'm sure he'll find it interesting." He suggested.

Satoshi held his chin thoughtfully. "Hm…come to think of it, I haven't showed him around the school. Oh, I know! It's after school now, so I think I'll see what he's up to. I'll go over to his dorm right now. Let's go Raigeki!"

"You got it!" Satoshi and Raigeki both left for Leo's apartment. There, Leo answered the door, albeit not the most energized looking person in the world.

"What do you two want?" Leo questioned lazily, fixing his glasses to rub his eyes.

"I was thinking we could give you a tour of the school and show you some stuff. How about it?"

Leo closed his eyes and sighed, straightening his glasses. "Fool, don't you know that the school already does that before hand? It's not like I don't know where things are."

"While that may be, there are things that the school doesn't show you. For one thing, do you know how to make money in Gaetia?"

Leo tossed him an annoyed look. "You're joking right? Get a job like everyone else. How dumb do you think I am?"

Satoshi waggled his finger at him. "Nope, wrong answer mister I-know-everything. Let's gather everyone else first, and then I'll show you how."

A half hour later, Kasumi and Haruka arrived at Leo's house. Haruka was doing fine while Kasumi on the other hand was exhausted from school, and it showed with her slumped shoulders and tired eyes. "What do you want Satoshi? I'm tired and would like to finish my homework before heading to bed."

"I was hoping that I could show Leo how we make money, and chances are we'll need your help." Satoshi answered.

Leo sweat-dropped. "Could someone please end the suspense and tell me how you make money already?"

"Sure, I'll explain on the way." Satoshi started leading Leo and the rest of Team Tatsujin towards a building in the middle of Arcadia. It was about two stories high and had many students around and inside. "You see, this is a school that trains people to be strong and fend for themselves in and out of combat. But not everything can be learned in school. Most of it has to be in real life, which is the main reason we're here. In order to gain money, whether it be in this school or in a city, we need to take on different missions given by the Mission Center. The missions are classified in ranks. D and E missions are the easy stuff, no threat what so ever. C and B got some of the tougher missions, and rank A and up have a chance of death. The bigger the risk, the more money you can earn."

Leo scratched his chin, intrigued. "Sounds fascinating. Let's check for a few missions. Getting the extra money will help."

"Okay, let's go to the receptionist and ask." Satoshi did just that and received a list of high ranked missions. Which each one, the money was impressive, but the death rate was at least 50 percent. However, at the top of the list, Satoshi and the rest gasped in shock.

Mission rank: S

Mission: Escort valuable object and client

Payment: 4000

Death rate: 80 percent at minimum

"4000?" Satoshi continued to stare in absolute shock. With that much money, his team wouldn't have to worry about money for the rest of the school year! But taking a look at the death rate, he understood why. It was very high, but perhaps worth the risk. "Alright, that sounds good. I say we accept."

"Um….Satoshi? I know it's a lot of money, but this mission sounds practically suicide. Are you sure we should accept a mission so dangerous?" Kasumi asked.

"Oh come on, we've been through some dangerous stuff before. You're not afraid of some numbers, are ya?"

"I'm not afraid; I just don't want you to go over your head."

"Alrighty, then let's do it!" Satoshi cheered. Sometime later, he successfully got the information needed and his team registered. According to the information, the client would wait for them in Aka city, which was a six hour travel on foot. The time of meeting would be noon, and since it was an official mission, Team Tatsujin would be excused from class until the mission was completed.

The next day came and Team Tatsujin left early in order to reach to the meeting point in time. Aka city was quite vast and built in a suburban design, with trees and buildings flourished throughout the city. "Okay, according to the directions, our client should be somewhere around here…" Satoshi glanced around at the location. It was the center of a small park, a few benches, trees, lamppost, and bushes scattered about. However, no one was in the current area. "Hmm, strange, our client should be here right around this time. Where could he be?"

"Right behind you." A young man said, standing behind the raven haired samurai.

"AIIEEEE!" Satoshi jumped with a start, his heart pounding from the scare. "When did you—"

"Don't you dare say it!" The teenager shouted, surprising Satoshi. He had short black hair and dark-rimmed glasses. The frail looking intellectual wore a dark green Chinese-style shirt with wide sleeves at the ends and long pants. "I've heard that one too many times in my lifetime."

"Well if you didn't just pop up out of nowhere like that, then there wouldn't be a need for such a question! Anyway, do you happen to be our client?"

"Yes, my name is Ebi. Nice to meet you all." Ebi greeted.

"I'm Satoshi, and these are my teammates Kasumi, Haruka and Leo." Satoshi noticed the briefcase in Ebi's hand. It was steel plated and locked securely. "Is that the item we're suppose to take care of?"

Ebi nodded. "Yes, but I'll explain that when the other team gets here."

"Other team, huh? Must be a pretty important mission to hire two teams." Before Satoshi could start pondering who the other team was, a familiar voice called out to him from behind.

"Hey, Satoshi, long time no see!"

"Hm?" Satoshi turned around and gasped with surprise. "Hiroshi! You guys are our partners in this mission?"

Hiroshi walked up to Satoshi and shook his hand. "Yeah. I'm just as surprised as you are. How cool!"

"Ah, so I see you all know each other. This will make it easier for us. Alright, now that everyone's here let's go to a safe location. I don't like to explain important topics in such an open area. Follow me." Ebi led the two teams to his hotel room, which was just big enough for everyone to fit in, though there weren't enough seats, so some people had to stand up or lean against a wall. Once the room was checked, Ebi started to explain the details. "Okay, now for the mission. In this briefcase is a very important object. In the wrong hands, this could be a very destructive weapon. I've heard a lot about you all, and because of such, I feel confident enough to show you this." Ebi opened the metal locks of the suitcase and cracked it opened.

"It's….a scroll?" Satoshi questioned, quirking his eyebrow inquisitively. Indeed, it was a simple scroll with a black seal containing the word "Kage" on it. Haruka and Furuura could feel an incredible yet dangerous power emanating from it.

"Precisely. You do know the legend of the five heroes that fought against the dark emperor, right?" Everyone nodded. "Well, that's just part of the story. The dark emperor was not what you would call a human, but rather a humanoid chimera, a mixture of many kinds of creatures as well as a few humans. One of his abilities was to create incarnations of himself, each possessing unique and destructive powers. The evil lord created five forces to counter the elements fire, wind, water, earth and lightning. Shadow, ice, steel, psychic, and gravity were the five elites of darkness conjured up to defeat their opposition. However, they still lost against the united powers of the legendary five and were later sealed into these scrolls. I've managed to obtain this one, which is Shadow Scroll."

"Could you tell us more about the Shadow Scroll?" Leo pressed on, interested.

"Well, I don't know everything about it, but it has a very dangerous ability. With the ability to control shadows, you could grant it solid form and manipulate it to your liking. I'm sure you can easily imagine how dangerous that could be."

"Yeah…" Hiroshi shuddered to think what would happen if that fell into the wrong hands.

"This is exactly why I need all eight of you to escort me to the best place for protection, Arcadia. As I hear it, when it comes to blocking outside intruders, Arcadia is one of the best there is in this land. I know the road isn't that long, but I felt it would be best to prepare for anything, especially with something this important. Also, I've noticed some people following me, so I'm sure they're after me and the Shadow Scroll."

"Well, while I do understand why people are after the scroll, why would they be after you? You don't look very important…" Takeshi pondered aloud.

"Some people are after me because I AM important, no-eyes!" Ebi snapped. The two glared menacingly at each other, electricity sparking between them.

Leo made a loud cough, catching everyone's attention. "So we have to bring this scroll back to Arcadia and make sure it doesn't fall into the wrong hands. My question is when should we depart?"

"Tomorrow at six. Around that time, criminal activity should be low enough to avoid any battles. I made sure to have two spare rooms for both teams to stay in. However, I will need some people with me at all times just incase. Hmm…" Ebi looked at both teams, determining who would stay with him. "…You four will stay with me as body guards." He decided, pointing to Kasumi, Furuura, Duplica and Haruka.

"Um, okay." The girls nodded.

Satoshi leaned over to Takeshi. "Say, don't you find it strange that he chose only girls to stay by him?"

"I'll bet he's secretly a pervert…"

"Don't mistake me for you." Ebi shot, hearing the insult.

"Hey, you want a piece of me nerd boy?" Takeshi challenged.

"I'll tell you an answer I'm sure all of the girls had said to you. No."

"You hit it right on the mark." Duplica giggled.

Takeshi clenched his fist angrily. "Hey!"

"If comedy hour is done, I think it would be best if the four of us scouted the area for any potential threats." Leo suggested.

'Aw, but I wanted to see the fight…' Hiroshi thought disappointedly. "Yeah, I guess that's a good idea. I think we should split up into two groups. That way, we can cover more ground. I'll go along with Takeshi and take the west wing of the city. You two should take the east. Afterwards, we'll meet back here. Let's not take more than 2 hours to scour the city."

"That sounds good. Let's go Leo!" Satoshi called, heading out the door.

"Sure." Leo followed shortly. Soon after, Hiroshi and Takeshi took separate routes, checking for suspicious activity.

With Satoshi and Leo, they had been scouting the streets for over an hour. So far, not only did the two discover nothing suspicious, but also discovered just how boring it could be. Satoshi, who preferred action, was the most bored of the two.

"Man, I don't see why we can't just go to the school now and wrap up to mission already." Satoshi sighed.

"If anything, I would rather be keeping up my studies than doing this. However, a job's a job, and the extra money would be a blessing." Leo glanced about with a bored expression, his hands folded behind his head. As he walked along side Satoshi, something struck his curiosity. "Satoshi, why is it your team doesn't have a fourth member? When I first joined your team, there should've been four members, correct?"

"Oh, right, you don't know the entire situation. I'll fill you in since you're a team member now…" Satoshi started retelling the story of his teammate Yuuki and the dark personality Shiroku. After Satoshi finished, Leo was startled.

"So this Yuuki has to Gemini Edge curse?" Leo exclaimed in surprise.

"Yeah. I was pretty shocked with that as well. And ever since, Haruka hasn't said a word. That is also why I was surprised with how you were able to get her moving and feeling better."

Leo started pondering the possibilities. "What were the color of his eyes and hair?"

"He has white hair and red eyes, an odd combination."

"Wait…no, that couldn't possibly be…him…could it? No way, that would be way too convenient…" The alchemist though to himself.

"Hm?" Satoshi was about to ask Leo what he was thinking when Raigeki's ears perked up.

"Satoshi! We got company coming!" Raigeki warned, his ears twitching.

"What direction?"

"We got four coming from two directions …two behind us and two from above!"

Satoshi unsheathed his sword. "Leo, we got company coming! Get the ones behind us! Me and Raigeki will take the ones coming from above!"

"Alright!" Leo turned on his heels and dashed towards two pursuers coming from behind while Satoshi glanced up as two ninja class attackers running down the wall. They were veiled in black assassin gear covering every part of their body except for the eyes and had thick silver claws.

"Raigeki, hurry and use Thunder Wave to paralyze them!"

Raigeki nodded and launched off Satoshi's shoulder. "Here we go! Thunder Wave!" The rodent's body crackled with electricity and shot off a wave of high voltage at the two assassins. However, the two jumped off the wall to dodge the attack, and then swiped down at Satoshi when they were in range. Satoshi tried to block the attack, but it was too strong and shattered his wooden sword.

_SLASH!_

"Gah!" Satoshi jumped back, clutching his injured arm.

"Feh, how feeble!" One of the assassins taunted, flexing his claws threateningly.

"Yes, feeble he is! No weapon he has!" The other assassin latched himself on the wall, preparing to pounce on Satoshi.

"So just because I don't have a weapon makes me weak huh? Let's see about that!" Satoshi taunted, standing in a martial artist stance. The training he had with Kasumi was surely going to pay off.

"KILL!" The assassin hanging above lunged at Satoshi while the one on the ground shot a chained kunai at him from his claw.

"Satoshi-kun, look out!" Raigeki exclaimed. Satoshi dashed towards the approaching killer and grabbed the chained kunai that almost pierced his chest. He used the weapon to deflect two of the leaping assassin's claw strikes.

"Retract it!" The attacker commanded.

"Yes!" The kunai chain user started retracting the chain, yanking Satoshi towards him.

"HM!" Satoshi leapt in the air and towards a wall. Before the chain started pulling him in, Satoshi stabbed the weapon into the wall and held it tight. Since the attacker set his mechanical claws to retract the weapon, he couldn't stop it and therefore got pulled by Satoshi.

_WHAM!_

"ARG!" The ninja got slammed in the face by Satoshi's drop kick. Due to the speed he was going, the attack left him unconscious in one hit!

"You shall pay!" The remaining enemy aimed both of his claws at Satoshi and was about to shoot his chains at him when Raigeki latched onto his face. "…Crap…"

"Thunderbolt!" Raigeki yelled, shocking the man with a full powered thunderbolt. The attack rendered the ninja incapacitated as well as paralyzed.

"Good work Raigeki!" Satoshi praised, flashing him a thumbs up.

"Hey, let's see how Leo-kun's holding up!"

"Oh, that's right!" Satoshi ran in the direction Leo headed. Moments later, he found Leo and two similar looking assassins on the ground unconscious. Fearing the worse, Satoshi hurriedly crouched next to Leo. "Leo! Are you okay? Le…huh?" As he leaned his ear towards Leo's mouth, he could hear a light yet distinct sound.

Leo was…sleeping…

"Ack!" Satoshi fell over in surprise. He should've seen that one coming. "Hey, wake up already!"

"Ngh…huh?" Leo slurred groggily as he rubbed his sleepy eyes. "Is it time for class already?"

"Did you forget the fact we've just finished fighting assassins?" Satoshi exclaimed.

"…Oh, right! Let's hurry back to the others! The attack here could've just been a diversion to keep us busy!"

"Alright! Come on Raigeki!" Satoshi and Leo were about to head back when several more ninjas appeared and surrounded the two.

"You aren't going anywhere. Even as we speak, your friends are being killed and the scroll is in our hands. You can't escape your fate." The head of the hunters spoke.

Leo quickly analyzed the enemy numbers. "Hmm….twelve enemies including the leader. My, things have suddenly turned interesting." He clapped his hands and pressed it onto the concrete floor, erecting a steel katana. "Here!" He tossed it at Satoshi, who caught the blade single handedly.

"Huh? This is a katana, but…the blade is reversed."

"Obviously it's a reversed blade sword. I figured you should be using real swords by now instead of wooden ones. Besides, these fit your non-lethal weapon theme, so it shouldn't be a problem." Leo erected another sword, this time a broadsword for himself. "Don't hold back. I don't want to regret making you a sword."

"I'll make sure you won't!"

"Enough talk!" The leader barked, arming himself with his specially made mechanical claws. "SHINE (_die_)!" All of the hunters lunged at Satoshi and Leo from all directions…

Back at the hotel, Ebi and the girls were having an equal amount of trouble. Multiple attackers, all wielding either swords or guns, barged into the room in order to steal the scroll, but Duplica was able to detect their arrival and helped everyone escape through the window before the assailants could capture them. If anything, fighting the enemy in close quarters was not a good idea, especially when the client was at risk. As the quintet raced through the streets, they ran into a dead end, luckily wide enough to maneuver in. Soon enough, five assassins block their entrance, preventing escape. Two of them were armed with small rifles while the rest had long swords.

"Your fate is sealed. Give us the scroll and we might be tempted to let you go freely." The middle hunter demanded.

"Sorry, but that ain't happening. The only thing you guys are gonna get is a vicious beating!" Kasumi declared, pointing directly at the leader.

"Heh, but you all are such frail looking girls, protecting that weakling of a man. You have no chance of survival!"

"Hey, let's show these guys what we 'girls' can do! CHARGE!" Kasumi yelled, leading the attack against the assassins. Taking on the leader, Kasumi performed a high jump kick towards him. The enemy leader brandished his blade and blocked the kick, countering with a slash attack. Surprisingly, Kasumi blocked the blade attack with her hands!

"Wha? But how?" The hunter leader gasped.

"I learned this from an old teammate of mine. Chakra and Chi aren't too different. They follow some of the same principles, like allowing me to manipulate the energy flow and turning it into a small shield. How about I give you a taste of what I've learned?" Kasumi held the blade with her two index fingers and snapped it off

"Grr…I'll show you! Prepare for death!" The leader thrust his fist at Kasumi, who side stepped the attack. Suddenly, an arm blade appeared and nicked Kasumi's cheek. Releasing an arm blade on the other arm, he ferociously slashed at the girl. Kasumi blocked and dodged the swarm of attacks, making sure not to get cut too many times. When she found an opening, she tossed a flurry of kicks and finished with a drop kick to the face, knocking him down. Kasumi was about to pounce on him for the final blow when the man tossed a strange, yellow substance in her face, blinding her. Seeing an opening, he kicked her in the stomach to keep distance between them.

"AAH! My eyes!" Kasumi shrieked, covering her face and lying on the ground in fetal position. Her eyes felt as though they were burning, and her breathing rate dropped to dangerous levels.

"You should never let down your guard! Stun spore is the ultimate last defense against a careless opponent. Now you die!" The man ran at her, raising his blade to—

"DOTON! DOSEI KASUI TOU (Clay Spike Towers) NO JUTSU!" Ebi yelled, performing ninja art hand seals. Suddenly, the earth rumbled and several huge spikes jutted out of the ground and imprisoned the five assailants. Once Ebi finished, he hurried next to Kasumi and applied a potion over her eyes and throat. Within moments, Kasumi was able to see and breathe properly.

"Thanks Ebi." Kasumi thanked, standing up.

"Don't worry about it. We should try to find everyone else while these guys are stuck here. If anything, it might be best to leave for Arcadia immediately. There's no telling when the wave of enemies might end, if they ever do!" Ebi, along with the girls, darted past the immobile assassins and rushed to find the rest of their friends.

A half hour later, Satoshi regrouped with Hiroshi and Takeshi, who had their own battles against a group of mages and summoners. About ten minutes afterwards, everyone regrouped in the park area they had met before, which proved to be a good landmark for the meeting. Thankfully, nobody received more than minor cuts. Ebi suggested everyone to move out of the city quickly before reinforcements arrived, and thus they did. However, as the group of nine pressed onward towards Arcadia, Leo couldn't help but feel something was off. Satoshi noticed Leo's concerned look and was curious.

"Hey Leo, is something bothering you?" He asked.

"Yes, and it's something I've noticed. According to Hiroshi and Ebi's description of the enemies they fought, their classes were Summoner, Mage, Samurai, and Gunner. The enemies we fought used claws and ninja tactics, leading me to believe they were the combined classes of the Fighter and Ninja classes. If anything, this means that our enemy has links to both Arcadia and Ivalice. If you put two and two together, this could only mean that our enemy has many connections to different schools everywhere."

"Huh. Now that you mentioned it, that does seem a little bit suspicious. I wonder what this means…" Satoshi pondered.

"It means that our enemy is a bigger threat than what we first perceived."

"This also means that they might have elites. Something we should be on our guard for." Ebi said.

"Well luckily, we're out of the city, which means if they're still looking for us in there, they'll be disappointed." Hiroshi sighed in relief.

"In any case, we should be cautious. There's no telling what will happen."

"I can name one thing…" Leo started ominously, staring ahead with narrowed eyes. "A dangerous looking opponent standing just a few feet ahead of us."

"Huh?" Everyone faced forward and stepped back in surprise. A lone man stood with his arms crossed defiantly. His long, radical, black spiky hair billowed in the wind. He wore a pair of long, baggy black pants, a long sleeved shirt and a dark blue flak vest concealing various small weapons, all laced with tough silk material. On his hands were black, fingerless gloves with metal plates on the back. His feet were equipped with special ninja sandals used for agility and endurance and over his cold sapphire eyes was a steel forehead protector. On his back were two sword sheaths formed in an X formation.

Ebi took a few cautious steps back. "How…how did he get in front of us without detection? He must be very skilled."

"He's also deadly. Take a look at his eyes." Leo held strong onto his fighting spirit. Looking at the man's frightening eyes could crumble a normal man's spirit in an instant. Furuura and Duplica were trembling slightly at the sight of his eyes, sensing power and great terror.

"Who's first?" The man asked simply.

"Hm? What do you mean?" Satoshi asked.

"Who is first to fight me? Or perhaps you want me to approach you first?"

"Looks like this guy isn't going to leave us alone without a fight. If anything, I should probably go first." Satoshi took a step forward before a calm hand was placed on his shoulder.

"No Satoshi, allow me to go first. Be sure to study his moves in case I lose." Takeshi said, walking towards the enemy ninja. "I'll be your opponent." He slammed his fist together in a tough manner, hoping it might scare the man off. Unfortunately, the assailant wasn't fazed. "But before we fight, think you could give us your name?"

"A name? How about Ruby for now?"

Takeshi raised an eyebrow. "Ruby huh? Funny name, considering you got no red on ya. My name is Takeshi, remember that, since it will be the name of the man that's gonna take you down!" With the force of a hundred Tauros, Takeshi stampeded towards Ruby, also guarding himself in case Ruby pulled off any tricks. "HAAA!"

_SMACK!_

"GWAH!" Ruby was sent flying into the air, and then landed rather roughly on the ground, unconscious.

"…Huh?" Everyone sweat-dropped fiercely. That was it?

Takeshi walked over to Ruby and peered over him. "Hey, err, Ruby, are you oka—" Before he could finish the sentence, Ruby suddenly turned into a puff of smoke. The person in the smoke was…Hiroshi? "NANI (What)?" The tanned fighter gasped, taking a step back. Unfortunately, that was his mistake since a pair of hands suddenly popped from the ground beneath him and clutched his legs to pull him into the earth! "AAAAH!"

"Takeshi!" Everyone yelled. When the dust cleared, Takeshi's head was the only thing visible, which was jutting out of the ground.

_SMACK!_

"GACK!" Duplica and Ebi both fell unconscious on the ground, knocked out by…another Hiroshi?

Satoshi glanced back and forth between the unconscious Hiroshi and the traitorous Hiroshi. Who was who? "What's going on here? Why did you do that Hiroshi?"

"Hehehe, you fools are too sentimental and weak!" The fake-Hiroshi sniggered. His voice immediately changed to Ruby's deeper one. "But then again, I should've expected such disappointing things from Team Tatsujin and Tenshi." In a puff of smoke, the real Ruby appeared, looking very smug.

"Wha? But that's impossible! We were standing right here with Hiroshi when Takeshi punched you!" Furuura argued, angered by Ruby's abusive actions towards Hiroshi.

"Keep your friends close but your enemies closer. You should listen to that quote more often, because you'll never know who your real friends and enemies are. It was simple enough, if you will allow me to explain. When you all gawked at my eyes, I left a temporary hypnosis spell that was so faint and undetectable none of you could react in time to catch it. However, it left me with so few moments to spare that I just used it to perform the Jintou Ryoujin (Head Hunter) no Jutsu to pull your friend Hiroshi underground, knock him unconscious, and then perform an illusion jutsu on him. Of course, the real challenge was to get him in position and stand him up correctly before my hypnosis on you wore off. Of course, I let my shadow clone do all of that work while I used an illusion Jutsu on myself while standing in front of you. I'd say with the short span of my hypnosis, everything took about 4.5 seconds to do. Of course, while you fools are busy listening to me talk, you've just fallen for my trap once again." Shockingly, the figure everyone was listening to faded away. Satoshi and the gang turned to see the real Ruby standing on top of Takeshi's head.

"Hey, get offa me!" Takeshi growled.

"Will someone take me on, or do you prefer for me to remove your friend's head?" Ruby unsheathed his blade and held it high. Suddenly, he heard a snap and saw a red spark fly past him…

_BOOM!_

The area just above Takeshi's head exploded, incinerating anything unlucky enough to endure the blast. "Good work Haruka!" Kasumi praised. However, Haruka wasn't convinced that was the end of him. She signaled the others to watch their backs and keep an eye out for Ruby. Not seeing him anywhere in the area, she quickly jumped in the air and snapped her fingers, a red spark trailing underneath the earth.

_BOOM!_

Another explosion happened underground, forcing Ruby out. "Grr…! Clever alchemic brat!" He seethed. The next sound he heard was clapping and saw a blue spark prowling the ground under him. Suddenly, giant swords extruded from the ground and attempted to stab Ruby. Unfortunately for Leo, Ruby was too agile and used the swords as stepping stones as he dashed towards Leo with his blade.

_CLANG!_

"Ngh…!" Ruby's attack was repelled by Satoshi's blade attack. The moment he landed, Furuura ran at him with her Elemental Buster. Though she wasn't as skilled with the blade as a samurai or ninja, she could still somewhat hold her own in close quarters combat. However, it was soon evident as the two clashed continuously that Ruby had greater advantage. Ruby was about to strike back when Haruka darted towards him with her Elemental Buster as well. Taking out his second sword, Ruby was holding his own quite well against the sword wielding mages.

"Two against one huh? Well this isn't very fair. How about I even up the odds?" Ruby tossed his swords in the air and back flipped to avoid a horizontal slash from Haruka. After performing a series of hand seals, a clone of himself split from his body. The two Rubys caught a sword in the air and landed gracefully on the ground. Haruka opted to slash at the two. However, the twins had other plans. They jumped over Haruka and rushed towards Furuura with their swords. The Team Tenshi mage managed to block a downward slash from Ruby A, but Ruby B did a low spin and an upward kick, placing his hand on the ground to give his kick greater power. Furuura was sent flying high into the air, which in that time Ruby A was perform a series of rapid fire kicks at her. Before Furuura landed on the ground, Ruby B kept her airborne as he started the combo with a leaping uppercut and then attacked with a several punches and kicks, knocking the girl further and further in the air. When the victim of the deadly combo was high enough and the two Rubys were on the ground, they both lunged simultaneously at her and performed a powerful upward slash, creating an aerial X Strike, a move similar to Satoshi's ground based X strike.

"Furuura!" Kasumi cried out. She quickly dashed towards her and caught the girl just before she landed. The devastating two-man combo left her battered and unconscious.

"Heh, five down, four to go. Don't make this too easy for me now. I haven't even used my strong techniques yet. …Hm?" Ruby suddenly started to feel a little odd. "Damn, looks like I can't delay this battle too much longer. It's time to do what I came to do." Before Leo, Haruka or Kasumi could react the skilled shinobi performed swift hand seals and slammed them on the ground. "GOKUSHA WANA (Prison Snare) NO JUTSU!" Without warning, three giant rock claws erupted from the ground and slammed over Haruka, Kasumi and Leo tightly, sealing them. It didn't end there because the three victims of the prison jutsu were pressed into the earth until they were completely submerged!

"What have you done with them Ruby?" Satoshi interrogated angrily.

"I've just sealed everyone. Now the only ones listening are you and I. Let us duel, Satoshi!" Ruby canceled his clone jutsu, joining together as one Ruby and charged at Satoshi.

_Slash! Swipe! Swipe! Slash!_

Satoshi blocked the first two horizontal zigzag slashes, side stepped the third vertical slice, and parried the next attack, countering with his upward slice. Ruby spun behind Satoshi, dodging the attack. "You should watch your back more often. You'll never know what might happen to it…"

_SLASH!_

"GAH!" Satoshi stumbled forward, a large cut on his back.

"You should really hurry up. Who knows how long your friends could last before they run out of air. Though, I feel it would be better to hear their screams of agony and torment…"

"You…you…" Satoshi clenched his teeth angrily. How dare Ruby play with people's lives, especially his friends! "You…BASTARD!"

_SLASH!_

"HM?" Ruby could barely predict the swift blade attack from Satoshi and received a small nick on his chest.

"Let my friends go!" Satoshi yelled, clashing blades with Ruby.

"Defeat me first!" Ruby pushed Satoshi back and performed a flying triple kick, following up with a downward slash from the air. Satoshi blocked the kick attack with his free hand and spun into a parry against the slash attack, knocking Ruby off balance. Satoshi charged up his sword with lightning element.

"Thunder Flash!" The raven haired swordsman unleashed a powerful surge of voltage towards Ruby, shocking him.

"Reversal, Sonic Slash!" Ruby, though still receiving damage, drained some of the mana from the Thunder Flash attack, and then whipped his blade at Satoshi dozens of times, sending invisible blade waves at him.

"GWAH!" The blades ripped through Satoshi, injuring him badly. He fell on his back, his sword flying out of his hands. Before he could get up, Shiroku pointed his blade at his head, sneering.

"Tch, so pathetic. You're so weak you can't even protect your friends or the one you care for most! Howcan you even hope to defeat Shiroku if you can't even get by me?"

Satoshi's eyes widened in shock. "You know Shiroku? Where is he now?"

"That is of no concern to you. Feh, you're so weak I don't even feel like killing you. You're far too feeble and fragile to even be considered an opponent." Ruby sheathed his blade and turned away. "However, if you wish to meet with Shiroku and have your questions answered, you must grow much, much stronger. If you can't defeat me, then fighting Shiroku is worse than suicide. You can be easily compared to that blade of yours." He walked over to Satoshi's sword and picked it up. "Utterly useless!"

_SHATTER!_

Satoshi gasped in surprise. Ruby broke the sword with a single hand! "If you want to use a weapon, use a good one, not this replica of an actual weapon. Know this Satoshi, you have until the end of the first half of the school year to hone your abilities, because the next time you face me, I won't hold back…" The ninja gradually faded from sight, his voice echoing throughout the area. No sooner after Ruby disappeared, the three people who were encased in the Gokusha Wana no Jutsu were released, gasping heavily for air. The first one to regain focus was Kasumi, who noticed Satoshi's wounds. The boy had several cuts on his chest, arms, legs, and a small nick on his forehead and cheek. His shirt was practically in shambles and one of his sleeves torn and held weakly onto his wrist.

"Satoshi, are you oka—"

"SHIMATTA (_The "S" word, or really strong cursing_)!" Satoshi yelled loudly, slamming his fist on the ground. The action made Kasumi jump. "It's…it's not fair! I barely touched him, yet I was practically annihilated and he wasn't even trying! I've been training day in and day out for so long yet he was on a whole new level of strength! Why can't I be stronger? What am I doing wrong?"

Kasumi didn't know how to react. Now that she thought about it, Satoshi had never really been so badly beaten by an opponent before. She remembered his bout against Kaisuke, which was not too long ago, but even then he didn't react so violently about his defeat. What was it the dark haired ninja said to him? Was it really so harsh to throw Satoshi into a conflict?

"Unfortunately Satoshi, that's how this world works." Ebi spoke, slowly standing up. "You can't expect to beat everyone just because you train all the time. Training only builds up physical strength. Yes, it is beneficial, but not the only thing that makes someone strong. When you fought with Ruby, I'll bet all you could think of was to defeat him, and yes, I was awake during most of your fight so I heard everything. I don't know who this Shiroku is, or how he knows him, but I could tell he's very important to you." Haruka was stunned at hearing Shiroku's name, but decided to halt her thoughts on the matter as Ebi continued. "The insults directed at you were pretty harsh too, but if you want to grow stronger to defeat this Shiroku or Ruby, you must first acquire strength for your inner self."

"My inner strength?" Satoshi echoed, confused.

"To put it into simplest terms, your heart. Look around you Satoshi. Take a close look at your friends." Satoshi did so and noticed each and every one of his friends. Hiroshi, Takeshi, Furuura, Duplica, Leo, Haruka, and Kasumi. They were all dear friends of his, and he wouldn't hesitate to do anything he could for them. At the moment, they were helping each other to their feet and tending to each others wounds with smiles on their faces, regardless of their earlier defeat. A small smile appeared on Satoshi lips as he witnessed this, sensing the companionship. He snapped his attention to Ebi and nodded, urging him to continue. "They care for you and each other. That is the strength of the heart. It may not seem like much now, but it will surely be one of the greatest weapons in your arsenal, regardless of how much training you had or what weapon you used. Instead of spending all of your time training, use a lot of that time to be with your friends and family. Be with those who care about you and those who you love most. Don't take this battle as a defeat, but a sign showing you that a little change can go a long way."

"The four-eyed-dork is right!" Takeshi exclaimed, earning a glare from Ebi. "We're not gonna let some smart mouth ninja get the best of us!"

"That's right! If we're together, then we can grow stronger and try harder!" Furuura joined.

"It's alright if we lose once or twice, because we always comeback twice as strong!" Hiroshi said with a nod.

"I hate to admit it, but they're right. With great numbers comes greater strength." Leo spoke sagely.

Kasumi glanced at Haruka and nodded, sensing that she too wanted to say something. "As for me and Haruka, we're with you all the way, so let's head back to Arcadia and do our best, together." The two girls extended their hand towards Satoshi, who couldn't help but feel just a bit overwhelmed. With a small sniff and a nod, he grabbed the two girls' hands and pulled himself up.

"Yeah! Let's all head back and do our best, because together, there's nothing we can't do!" Satoshi shot his fist in the air, raising everyone's moral.

"YEAH!" Everyone cheered, feeling rejuvenated just by Satoshi's renewed spirit. The group marched on towards Arcadia, filled with new hope and courage. Hours later, the group reached Arcadia and delivered the still intact scroll, making sure it was placed in a high security safe. After the business was done, Ebi had to leave for another land, having a special task set for him elsewhere. It was a warm farewell, and Satoshi would forever remember his words, taking it to heart. As Satoshi reflected on today's mission, he couldn't help but remember Ruby's words.

"_You're so weak you can't even protect your friends or the one you care for most!"_

What did Ruby mean by the one he cared about most? It was almost as if Ruby knew something he didn't. What did it mean? As Satoshi thought about this, he couldn't help but wonder who he cared for more than anyone.

"Hey Satoshi, what's with the look on your face? You're not actually thinking, are you?" Kasumi inquired, faking surprise.

"Ha, ha, very funny." Satoshi shot sardonically, rolling his eyes. At that moment, he took a quick glance at the red head, who turned her attention to Haruka and Leo. '…Nah, couldn't be. I'm just thinking too much.' He concluded. Stopping his thoughts, he joined the other three in their conversation.

Elsewhere in a dark room, two people sat cross-legged in the center of a glowing violet circle with ancient text along the inner wall of the ring and another circle drawn beneath that, displaying archaic symbols and designs. Four tall, golden torches positioned themselves just outside the ominous ring, forming something like a box. One of the two people, Saito, had his eyes closed as he chanted a mysterious spell. His palms were directed towards the other person facing him, Ryuga, whose eyes were also closed. After a moment, Saito's palms clenched as he withdrew them, the glow on the circle disappearing. The room brightened, revealing four injured and unconscious Pokémon chained to the stone wall. "Okay, it is done, you may leave now." Saito said, placing his hands on his lap.

Ryuga bowed respectfully. "Hai (Yes), Saito-sama." He stood up and left through the grey steel door and exited. Once the door closed, Saito grinned, sensing another presence behind the heavy door. "So, did you find what you were looking for?"

Behind the open door was the raven haired ninja Ruby. However, as he stepped from one light to another, his hair and eye color changed. His hair was now snow white and his eyes were ruby colored. "Of course. _My_ Shadow Scroll is now being held at Arcadia. I considered snatching it right then and there, but I felt it would be better for it to remain where it is for now, making things more entertaining. I saw Ryuga leaving this room. Does this mean you have it for me?" Shiroku asked with a hint of anticipation in his voice.

"Of course. With this, you will undoubtedly give your Pokémon great power, as well as rob them of their will. It should be easy to control them now. Come and extend your right hand to me." Shiroku did as Saito instructed and held out his hand. When Saito touched it, Shiroku felt a dark aura flow through his arm. It was slightly painful, yet the power it held was incredible. A black and purple mist of energy enveloped his arm, empowering it.

After gaining the power, the Yuuki alter ego walked up to one of the Pokémon and brushed its blood stained cheek. "Soon, your strength will be at my mercy." A sinister smirk made itself evident on his lips as he pressed his empowered right hand on the Pokémon's chest. "I look forward to it…Vashuna…"

The Pokémon now known as Vashuna winced in his unconscious state, obviously dreaming. "Please forgive me…Fiona…" He whispered sadly as a dark aura enveloped his entire body.

* * *

Well, that's it for this chapter. I must say, it took awhile, but I'm rather impressed with it. It turned out a lot better than I expected. I'm sorry it took awhile, but I'll be sure to make up for it next chapter (you'll see what I mean. Hehehe….). I've noticed my lack of reviews as of late. It's rather depressing, but I most likely deserve it for making you wait so long. I look forward to your wondrous comments. 

Just in case you didn't check the profile, I've made a few changes, mainly regard a few character names and last names. Here are the following changes:

Caroline – Mitsuko

Haruka Maple – Haruka Momiji (Not real last name. If someone knows, please tell me)

Satoshi Saotome – Satoshi Tajiri

Kasumi Waterflower – Kasumi Yawa

Yuuki Birch – Yuuki Odamaki


	19. Love Tajiri: The arrival

Disclaimer: Don't you people get the point by now? I don't own it.

Claimer: I own all original characters including Saito, Kabushi, Anji, Ayane, and Ryuga. I also own this story, so beat it ya pest! Go ahead, shoo! (not you lovely readers though. You can stay.)

First off, I would like to thank all of you for your support in helping me get…**_100 reviews_**! I really do feel so honored that everyone thinks so highly of this fic. I would also like to personally thank 'Destinydeoxys' for being the 100th reviewer, thanks man! As a reward for your wonderful reviews, I'm making the next couple of chapters something really special, just for you guys, so please enjoy and keep those reviews coming! Let's go for 200!

* * *

It was now the beginning of June, a time to rejoice the beginning of a wonderful summer vacation. Unfortunately, this vacation only lasted a week, unlike the two months most schools have. Hoping to spend much of the vacation resting, Satoshi curled up under his warm blanket, snuggling in comfortably. 'Finally…' He thought, dozing off. 'No more school, no more crazy adventures, and no more rude awakenings. Just rest, relaxation, and—' 

_GLOMP!_

"GYAAAH!" Satoshi shrieked, getting pounced on the face by Raigeki. He launched off the bed and danced about in a hysteric manner, startled by the sudden surprise attack. In his frenzy, he accidentally slipped on some of his discarded school clothes and fell flat on his face, the Pikachu leaping to the top of his head just in time. "Ow…" Well, so much for no more rude awakenings…

"Wake up lazy! You got a visitor!" Raigeki informed, sitting on top of his partner's head.

It took a few moments for the downed samurai to realize what his Pokémon said. His eyes glanced over at the digital clock, which read 7: 34 am. "This early in the morning? I wonder who it could be..." After getting dressed appropriately, he, along with Raigeki, headed toward the dining room. It was there Satoshi saw his brother keeping a very familiar friend company. "Oh, Hiroshi! I didn't expect to see you so early. What's up?"

"Hey Satoshi. I…err…well…" Hiroshi fidgeted in his seat slightly, looking nervous. "I just came over to say hello!"

Satoshi tossed the rival samurai a disbelieving gaze. "At 7:30 in the morning?"

"Well you know what they say: Early to bed, early to rise, and all that stuff. Yeah, that's it. Heheheh…" Hiroshi laughed nervously.

"If you won't tell him, I will. Your call." Shigeru warned calmly, drinking his morning tea.

"Tell me what?" Satoshi asked, taking a seat nearby.

Hiroshi took a deep breath to calm himself before speaking. "You know Furuura, right?" Satoshi nodded, urging him to get on with it. "Well, I've only known her for a while and now I've grown to…well…like her a bit." His cheeks reddened at the thought. "And I was kinda hoping I could ask her to go out with me. Of course, the thing with that is that it's so hard to find the perfect way to do it. I wanted our moment to be special because she's…special to me, you know? And I think I found the perfect way to do it, but…um…the thing is…"

"You're nervous and you want someone nearby to calm your nerves, right?" Shigeru answered for the anxious lad.

"R-right. I mean, I'm new to this kinda of thing, so I was hoping you could come with me for support. Well, could you?"

"Hm…I don't know…" Satoshi was a bit hesitant, not exactly one for the mushy moments. Besides, he wanted to relax during his vacation, not get dragged into another zany adventure.

"Come on, please! Pretty please! I really, really, really need your guys help for this! Besides, all you have to do is come along for the trip and give me advice."

This caught Satoshi attention. "Trip?"

"Yeah! The teams who were invited to enter the Bushido League can go on a special trip to a luxury inn, one that is famous for its onsen (hot springs)!"

"Wait a minute!" Shigeru exclaimed, looking surprised. "You don't mean…"

"That's right! None other than the Hinata Inn!" A smirk was brought upon Hiroshi's lips when he thought of a way to persuade Satoshi. "By the way, family members can come along too…"

"Satoshi!" Shigeru gripped his brother's shoulders, shaking him lightly. "You have to go! There's a friend's love life at stake here!"

'Somehow, I'm not surprised he was that easily convinced…' Satoshi thought wryly, though the trip did sound appealing to him. He'd never been to the hot springs before due to how expensive it was. Seeing this as a great opportunity to have some fun (and prevent further persuasion methods from Hiroshi and Shigeru) he decided to accept. "Alright, I suppose if you really want me to come, I'll go."

"Great! Thanks man! Oh, and here's your ticket." Hiroshi handed Satoshi six tickets.

"Huh? Why did you give me six? If it's just my team and Shigeru, isn't that five?"

"What, so you finally mastered counting?" Shigeru snickered, earning a glare from his younger brother.

"Actually, I kinda thought it would be a nice gesture if Shigeru brought his girlfriend along."

"Thanks a million! I'm forever in your debt!" Shigeru shook Hiroshi's hand vigorously, beaming with glee. He dashed towards his room and started piling clothes and other such necessities together in rapid succession.

"Man is he in a rush." Satoshi sighed, embarrassed by his brother's hastiness. "Isn't this trip not for another day or so?" When he noticed Hiroshi's silence, he narrowed his eyes. "Hiroshi? Don't tell me this trip starts today?"

"Uh…well…kinda, sorta…more like in two hours…" Hiroshi answered meekly.

"Oh, I see. Two hours from now…" There was a second of silence before Satoshi realized the urgency of the situation. "TWO HOURS? Hiroshi! Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"I…sorta realized how nervous I was a few minutes ago and you were the best last-minute option I could think of. Well anyway, I gotta get going to meet my friends. Be sure to bring some nice clothes with you. Also, bring your Pokémon. I'm sure they'll like the hot springs too." With that, Hiroshi left Satoshi to gather his belongings and call his friends under the strict time limit. Though Satoshi got his ear chewed off by Leo and Kasumi for waking them up so early, everyone eventually agreed to come along for the trip.

One hour and fifty minutes later, Team Tatsujin, along with Shigeru and Sakura, gathered in front of the school gate. Being the last ones to arrive, the group noticed the other teams present. Team Isuka and Zeji were as far away from each other as possible. While the fighter of mage of each team glared at each other from a distance, the ninjas were on their guard incase a fight erupted from the rivaling teams. For reasons unknown, Kenta and Marina weren't present at the moment. The remaining team left to be mentioned approached Team Tatsujin.

"I see you got dragged into coming here as well, Tajiri." Kabushi addressed.

"It's you. Uh…Kasushi!" Satoshi said, trying to remember the Team Rocket member's name.

Kabushi's eyebrow twitched. "It's Kabushi, you baka." The red haired samurai noticed Leo and quirked his eyebrow. "I see you have a new member to fill in for Yuuki. Gee, I wonder where he went. Probably left you fools for a better team." He sneered, grinning smugly.

Haruka scowled as she prepared to burn Kabushi alive for the cruel comment. Leo held the mage's hands in place and shook his head, telling her to let it go. "I'm not sure who you guys are, but it might be for the better of you back off. We wouldn't want any _accidents_." Leo threatened coolly.

Noticing the hinted threat, Kabushi stepped up to Leo, glaring down at the 4 foot tall teen. "You trying to pick a fight with me kid?"

"Kabu-kun. Stand down." Ayane urged, pulling him back by the shoulder gently.

"Hmph, whatever." With a final glare, Kabushi turned around and started walking off."

She directed her attention to Team Tatsujin while smiling innocently. "I'll have to apologize for him. You see, he didn't want to come along this trip at first. That is, until me and Ryu-kun persuaded him to come."

"You mean blackmail!" Kabushi snapped, still within ear shot.

Ignoring her teammate, Ayane continued. "Oh, and don't let him bother you too much. He acts all angry and bad, but deep down, he's a real nice guy."

"Hey, Ayane-chan, could you come help me out here? Kabu-kun and Ryu-kun are at it again." Anji grunted, separating the two arguing teens.

The white haired kunoichi (Pretty ninja girl) slapped her forehead in frustration. "Ugh, not again. That's the fifth time this morning! Oh well, I'll see you guys later." Ayane headed over to her teammates, helping Anji to break up the fight.

"Well, that was different." Shigeru mused.

"Ah, so all of you are the representatives for the Bushido League, huh? Certainly capable looking students." A mature female voice spoke. Everyone turned around to notice a very well developed woman with stylish long blue hair standing behind them. Unlike most of the teachers in Arcadia, she preferred her own clothes, which consisted of a black cape with a red underside, blue gloves, boots, elastic shorts and sleeveless shirt.

"Ibuki-sensei!" All of the fighter students cried, rushing to her. Ibuki was the most popular teacher in the martial arts department and was considered a role model for just about every female who wanted to be a strong martial artist. With the males, the teacher had more fans than she could ever count.

Ibuki smiled as she watched all of her old students lined up in front of each, each with shimmering eyes of admiration. "Alright, alright, settle down. It's been such a long time since I've seen any of you five. Doing well I hope?"

"Yes sensei!" All of the students chimed.

"Who's that?" Leo asked, gesturing the woman being swarmed by her fans.

"Oh yeah, you're kinda new here so you wouldn't know. That's Ibuki-sensei, one of the best teachers in this school. A lot of people really look up to her. I personally think she's really cool."

"Interesting…"

After the students calmed down, followed by the late arrival of Kenta and Marina, Ibuki stepped up to the front and face all five teams. "Everybody listen up! In a few moments we're going to visit the famous Hinata Inn." All of the students cheered at this. Ibuki gestured them to calm down. "Just to make sure we're on the same level I'll go over the rules of the Hinata Inn. Rule 1: No two people of the opposite sex are allowed in the same room at anytime. The only exceptions are the lobby and dining area. Rule 2: The onsens are off limits pass 9 pm. Rule 3: No peeking at anytime, anywhere. That especially means you Takeshi!" Ibuki pointed to the tanned Team Tenshi fighter, who flushed in embarrassment. "Rule 4: Absolutely no fighting. And lastly, rule 5: no one is allowed outside the Hinata Inn past 9 pm. These rules are to be followed strictly. If anyone screws up, they'll have to answer to me. Got it?" All of the students nodded. Just then, A very large and luxury bus arrived, one big enough to fit all of the students. "Besides those rules, let's go out there and have some fun!"

"Alright!" Once everyone filed inside the bus, off they went towards the Hinata Inn.

After a long six hour hour trip, the students arrived at the Hinata Inn. The place was much bigger than the students imagined. The building was on top of a tall hill, standing 3 stories high. The design was made in a Japanese type of style and was really a sight to behold. In front of the building were 6 people, all but one were girls and most seemed rather young. The teenage boy in front had short brown hair and eyes, wore square shaped glasses and was donned in a casual green T-shirt, blue shorts and sandals. He stepped in front, after getting shoved forward by one of the girls, and bowed in respect. "Ohayou gozaimasu. I'm Keitaro Urashima, the manager of this establishment, and I would like to personally welcome you to the Hinata Inn!"

"Sugoi (amazing)! Such a big building!" Duplica awed.

"Urashima-san, if you would, please introduce your employees to us so we can get to know them. It would certainly make things easier." Ibuki suggested.

"Hai." Keitaro nodded to the group of girls behind him.

The first girl was a 14 year old who had dark blue hair and eyes and was dressed in a green dress that was a mix of a light sweater and skirt with pink sleeves. It was easy to tell she was the shy type with the way she fidgeted under the gaze of the students. The girl made a cute impression though. "Ano…(Um…), m-my name is Shinobu Maehara. It's a pleasure to meet you all." She greeted meekly, blushing in embarrassment.

The tanned girl next to Shinobu stepped next to up, flashing a cheeky smile. She had blonde hair, green eyes and wore an adorable sailor fuku. The foreign girl was definitely not as shy as Shinobu and was about the same age as her. "Hi! I'm Kaolla Su! I hope you guys are ready for lotsa fun and fan service!" She cheered, shooting her fist in the air. The Arcadian students sweat-dropped fiercely, feeling that Kaolla would be one of the more eccentric people working here.

The next woman to introduce herself did so in a sexy pose, which made most of the guys whistle at her. She had silver hair, brown, squinty eyes, and wore a light blue shirt and dark blue pants. "I'm Mistune Konno, but everyone calls me Kitsune. I hope to play catch up with some of you cute boys later. I'm 18 and available." She winked at the guys, making most of them feel giddy and excitement, especially Takeshi.

Another woman stepped up; one who everyone could tell was a born fighter. She was dressed in a samurai hakama with a white top and red bottom. White wrappings could be seen around her chest and stomach area. On her hip was a sharp katana in a wooden sheath. She had long black hair and brown eyes, which clearly told any guy not to mess with her. "I'm Motoko Aoyama. I hope you enjoy your stay."

The last one was a rather pretty girl with brown eyes and hair that stretched down her back. She was clad in a yellow long sleeved sweater, a red mini skirt and black leggings. "Hello, I'm Narusegawa Naru, but you may call me Naru. I hope to be of great service to you." She greeted with a bow.

"Such fantastic employees you have Urashima-san." Ibuki praised. "Well, to be fair, I'll introduce us, starting with me. I'm Ibuki of Arcadia, the head teacher of this group. These are teams Tatsujin, Tenshi, Isuka, Zeji, and Rocket. For Team Tatsujin, there's Satoshi, Kasumi, Haruka, and Leo. Team Tenshi has Hiroshi, Takeshi, Furuura and Duplica. For Team Isuka it's Marina, Musashi, Yamato, and Shuu. With Team Zeji, it's Kenta, Kojiro, Kosaburo, and Kenji. Last but not least, Team Rocket's Kabushi, Anji, Ryuga, and Ayane. Also, we have Satoshi's older brother, Shigeru, and Kasumi's older sister, Sakura with us…hm?" The teacher blinked when she noticed a student missing. "That's strange. I could've sworn Takeshi was standing there a minute ago…"

"Err…I'm guessing this is him…" Kitsune sweat-dropped, gesturing the man knelt in front of her.

"My elegant, sexy mistress! How I've longed for such a day when I could meet a goddess such as you!" Takeshi swooned, gently holding the poor woman's hand.

_SMACK!_

"OW!" Takeshi cringed, getting punched on the back of his head.

"No hitting on the employees Takeshi!" Ibuki chastised. She turned to the still disturbed Kitsune. "I apologize for him. He's just showing his appreciation for your services in his own special way. Anyway, I would like to get started with the arrangements if we can."

"Ah yes, the arrangements!" Keitaro remembered. "If you would please follow me this wa—" The 19 year old froze with fear as he felt his pointer finger poke something soft. Cursing his luck, he braced himself for the fury he was about to receive.

"You…IDIOT!" Naru shrieked, sending Keitaro flying with an uppercut. The guest who would be staying at the inn looked up in awe as they watched Keitaro soar through the stratosphere. Satoshi could only sigh. Already he could tell this was going to be one crazy week. So much for no more crazy adventures…

After Keitaro recovered from Naru's crushing uppercut, he gave the guest a tour throughout the inn. The establishment was surprisingly neat and tidy. The wooden floors and ceiling were polished and dust free. The walls were painted with a fresh coat of light yellow paint and long strips of wood placed on the walls to create a stable pattern to keep the ceiling secured. Due to the shortage of rooms, students had to pair up with others and share rooms for the night. There were five in some rooms while there were four in others. After getting down to the ground rules and noting the locations of the different facilities, everyone split up one way or another to do their own thing.

Satoshi walked through the hallways with Raigeki on his shoulder, taking in the sights. "This place is pretty neat, huh Raigeki?"

"Yeah, no kidding! I definitely think I'm going to enjoy it here."

"No kidding. Hopefully we won't have to worry about some random—GWAAH!" Satoshi's sentence was cut short by something, more like someone, glomping him from behind. After a shriek of surprise and following crash, Satoshi was face-first on the ground, groaning in agony. Raigeki attempted to leap of Satoshi's shoulder to land safely when a pair of arms caught the electric rodent in mid air.

"Hey, hey, what is this thing? Can you eat it?" The girl on his back asked, the one known as Su.

"Ow…" Satoshi slowly stood up with a painful groan, the girl finally getting off his back. "No, you can't eat him. He's my friend!"

"Huh?" The tanned girl tilted her head cutely in confusion. "You mean he isn't food?"

"No, he's not. You can't eat him."

"I'm not sure…" Su eyed the Pikachu hungrily, drooling at the thought of what the mouse might taste like. "I think I'll have a bite just to make sure!"

"Trust me, I really wouldn't do that if I—" Satoshi paled when the strange girl bit Raigeki's tail. With a shrill cry of pain, the Pikachu released a powerful Thunderbolt attack, shocking the girl both figuratively and literally. The now extra crispy Su released Raigeki, who quickly hid behind Satoshi's leg, and fell on her back, twitching with stars in her eyes.

"Pretty stars…" Su said in a daze.

With a sweat-drop, Satoshi and Raigeki both slowly stepped away, and then broke into a sprint. While running, he failed to notice a woman turning around the corner and bumped into her. The woman, who failed to notice who she bumped into, quickly jumped to conclusions. "Grr…URASHIMA! YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT!" She drew her sword and prepared to decapitate Satoshi. However, well trained and reacting on instinct, he dodged the blade strike and grabbed the blade single-handedly, all in one smooth motion. "Ah…! You…!" Her jaw dropped in shock, gawking at Satoshi.

"Sorry about that." Satoshi apologized, releasing the blade. "You're...Motoko, right? Sorry for bumping into you. I was in a rush and didn't look at where I was going."

"Satoshi, that girl is waking up!" Raigeki warned, panicking.

"Ah! Gotta run! Later!" Satoshi darted pass the still-in-shock Motoko, followed by an erratic little hungry girl.

"That boy…! He caught my attack so skillfully…" Motoko, often unchallenged and victorious in her battles, was surprised that someone else besides her was so skilled. Sure, she was a powerful swordswoman, but to be blocked so casually like that wasn't a feat accomplished by normal people.

"Hey, Motoko-san." Someone behind her started.

"KYAAA!" Startled out of her thoughts, she spun around and slashed at the unsuspecting person.

_CLANG!_

Shigeru reactively deflected her blade without even blinking, causing Motoko's katana to fly out of her hands and stab into the floor. Once again, Motoko was rendered speechless. "Hey, do you happen to know where the bathroom is?" Shigeru asked casually, as though he didn't just shame her. Frazzled, she fell to her knees and mutely pointed down the hallway on the right. With a quick thank you, Shigeru went off towards the bathroom, but not before stopping in mid step. "Hey, when you turn around into a diagonal slash like that, use your wrist to guide the blade and your shoulders for power. That way, it will be less of a chance of getting deflected." He continued his way to the bathroom after giving the girl some advice. The poor girl almost fainted from feeling so overwhelmed from the back to back humiliation. Arcadia must've been home for a lot of powerful students…or in her opinion, freaks of nature.

Elsewhere in the inn, Leo was in the confines of his room, immersed in his studies. He sat cross-legged at a traditional Japanese style table, which was built low to the ground, forcing him to sit on the floor. This wasn't necessarily uncomfortable or anything, but just different from what he was used to. Esca was curled in a ball, resting against him as he scratched behind the cat-like creature's long ears.

While reading, Leo failed to notice someone approaching him. "Ano…Reiko-sama?" Shinobu called.

"What?" Leo asked in a rude manner, not bothering to glance at the little girl.

Shinobu was taken aback a little, but was determined to do a good job at being a hostess. "D-Do you want anything?"

"No. Now go away, I'm busy."

"Okay…" Feeling disheartened, the sensitive girl started shuffling away pathetically.

Noticing this, Leo could only sigh. "Actually…" He called, catching Shinobu's attention. "…Water would be nice."

"O-Of course! I'll be back in a second!" Shinobu darted off somewhere to get some water. Moments later, she returned with a glass of water and placed it on the table. "Here you go. A nice glass of water. Would you like anything else?"

"No, not necessary, thank you."

Shinobu bowed and was about to leave when she noticed Esca lying next to Leo. "Reiko-sama? What kind of animal is that?" She gestured the Sun Pokémon.

"This is not an animal. Rather, these are creatures known as Pokémon. This one is known as an Espeon, the Sun Pokémon. Her name is Esca."

"May…I pet her?"

Leo shrugged. "I have no problem with that, however, she normally doesn't let anyone pet her except for me and—" He stopped when he saw how comfortable Esca looked when Shinobu started stroking her fine hair. As rare as it was, Leo smiled. "Impressive. It looks like she's taken a liking to you."

"Teehee, she's so cute!" Shinobu cooed, sitting in front of the Pokémon.

The two sat in silence for a few moments while Shinobu continued to pet Esca, who purred in bliss. Leo was surprised with Shinobu's nature. "You know, you remind me of my sister back home."

"Your sister? Can you tell me about her?" Shinobu requested, curious.

"She's a girl right around your age, always bubbling with energy. Even though she wasn't the most coordinated person, she would do everything she could to please people. Sometimes, she would act like an idiot just to bring a smile to people's faces. She worked hard at everything she could and always smiled. Though sometimes, people would scold her for the slightest mistake, and our parents weren't exactly the nicest of people either. They were strict and would sometimes punish her for simple mistakes just because she wasn't perfect at whatever she did. My sister is a very sensitive person and didn't have many friends or people she could turn to, which made her sad. I was the only person she could trust. Even though she has a condition, people are always attacking her as though she could help it."

"What is her condition?"

"My sister is…blind."

Shinobu gasped. "That's terrible! How could anyone treat her so harshly if she's blind?"

"Yes, I thought so too, but what no one knows is that she has a hidden talent, one that not even her parents know. I'm the only one who does. I somehow obtained this ability from her, but not at the capacity she has. You see, even though she's blind, she can read aura signatures as something of a second sight. Aura signatures are in everything. Rocks, trees, people, animals, water, everything has some sort of signature. The way it works is like a sonar, except she needs people with good hearts nearby in order to recognize nearby surroundings, otherwise its like walking through a pitch-black cave with no light whatsoever. Speaking of which, she can also read the hearts of people and animals that she meets. To her, my aura signature is the brightest she's ever seen (or so she claims), though I don't know why. It might be the reason she always clings to me so much, for the fact that I'm the light in her darkness. Of course, because of her blindness, she wasn't able to attend school like most people. This is where I came in. I had to study twice as hard, for myself and for her. To tell the truth, I've been trying so hard to study that I've gotten a bad case of narcolepsy because of it. Anyway, because we come from a wealthy and popular family, tutors of all kinds flock around her, trying to tutor her, but she accepted none, not even the best ones in the entire region. The only tutor she wanted was me. You see, we're both what you might call prodigies, people with much higher than normal intelligence and growth rate than normal people. We're a year away from graduation, yet she's only 13 and I'm 14.

Because of this though, a lot of people label us as freaks and were jealous of our ability. Just because I'm only 4 feet tall, a lot of people think they could take me on, forgetting that I'm a prodigy for a reason. But really, I don't care about those people. My sister always clings to me like her life depended on it. Heh, for all the time I've lived there, not once could I sleep alone. Truthfully, I never minded that. That's how I was able to sleep so well and have the strength to work for the both of us. But…as you saw earlier, I'm not exactly the nicest person. When people try to get close to me, I bite their heads off and keep them away. Sadly, this sometimes includes my sister. The only times I would truly be open with her is at night, when no one else is around and I'm helping her with the studies. The thing is, a lot of times she gets in trouble because of me. I keep pushing her away from me, but she just doesn't quit. It's such a bother how stupid and stubborn she could be."

Shinobu could feel the passion in his words when talking about his sister and could also relate. She wasn't the most popular person in her middle school, and felt like she had no talent or appeal. Her parents were getting divorced and she was almost forced to move to some remote place where she would truly be alone. However, when she met Keitaro and the rest of the people at Hinata, she felt as though she belonged there. There was a purpose for her, she was wanted and cared for. "It may not be my place to say this, but I think I know why your sister likes being with you. If I was in her shoes, I would do the same thing, no matter how many times I was pushed away. It's like you said, your sister has a special power that can read people's hearts. That means no matter how hard you try to deny it, she could always tell how you really felt. Even though I don't have those powers I could easily tell you had a very good heart. I mean, being bullied a lot would make someone stop caring about people, but that doesn't mean there aren't kind people left out there. I can't say I am as strong as you or I've had it worse, but I used to be alone and taunted too. But once I met Keitaro-sempai and the others, I felt so important and happy. I'm sure your sister felt the same way about you."

Leo, taking Shinobu's words to heart, closed his eyes and chuckled lightly. "Yeah, you're right. I was just thinking too much. I'm surprised I told you so much. The only other person I've told this much to was Haruka, and that was something of a requirement to remedy the situation."

"Haruka? Do you mean that brown haired girl in your team?"

"Yeah. Believe it or not, she's gone mute. It's not my place to explain to you what happened. The tragedy behind it all rendered her speechless, literally. Not only that, but she was in a much worse condition than you see her now. Before I helped her, she was in a deep depression, practically lifeless, and wouldn't speak to anyone. Had I gotten there too late, she might've starved herself to death."

Shinobu gasped with fright, horrified by the idea of such pain. "But what happened? How did you help her?"

"It wasn't easy, that's for sure. Had I not encountered such a situation before, I might not have been able to help her. My sister went through the same exact thing Haruka did, though for different reasons. She wouldn't speak to anyone, wouldn't eat anything, and so on. However, that's another story for another time. Anyway, in order to help Haruka, I needed to at least get her to listen to me. In order to do that, I had to be able to level and connect with her. Sometimes, it helps just to be able to connect with someone who knows equal or greater amount of pain. To complete the process of helping her out of the depression, I had to use my secret weapon."

"Secret weapon?"

"Quite simply, a song. A long time ago, I wasn't with my current family, but somewhere else entirely. There was a boy who was a little older than me and was pretty lonely. Everyone picked on him for one reason or another. In a way, I could relate to him. Its kind of vague to remember who he was, but the kid was definitely troubled with a rough past. Anyway, whenever we were about to go to sleep, I would help him sleep by singing a song. I'm not sure where I remembered it, but it just kinda stuck to me. He really liked it and it always helped him loosen up I tried the same thing with Haruka. It worked, somehow better than I imagined. She recognized the song, though I'm not sure how. After that, it was just a matter of chatting and being friendly. Unfortunately, I kinda fell asleep in the middle of the conversation. At least she was cured of her depression."

"Wow…you're incredible Reiko-sama!" Shinobu commended.

Leo scratched the back on his head, feeling a bit embarrassed. "I'm that not incredible. I just do what I feel like. And you don't have to call me Reiko-sama. Leo would suit me just fine."

"Okay…Leo-sempai!"

"Huh? Why sempai?"

"I say that because you remind me so much of Keitaro-sempai. I respect both of you very much!" Shinobu smiled warmly.

'Heh, such a cute smile. She and my sister really are so much alike.' Leo thought. "Hey, you should probably get going soon. I wouldn't want to keep you from your duties."

"Ah! I completely forgot. I'm glad I got a chance to talk to you!" The blue haired girl stood up and started for the door when Leo called out to her.

"Hey, Shinobu-san." Leo hesitated before continuing. "…You should smile more often. It really fits you."

Shinobu blushed considerably, taken aback by the compliment. "A-Ano, t-thank you, Leo-sempai! Err…y-y-you have a nice smile too! Uh…bye!" Flustered, she dashed off while trying to hide the dark blush on her face. Leo shrugged and directed his attention back to his studies…only to fall asleep due to his narcolepsy.

Kasumi, who had long been trying to find some of her friends, wondered aimlessly through the halls of the Hinata Inn. The place was quite big, so it was easy to get lost. She checked each room to either discover her friends or get to know the layout of the building. She slid open one the room's sliding doors and found a bedroom with four futons, a book shelf, and a ceiling lamp. However, there was no one inside. "Nothing here." Closing the door, she went to the next room and opened it, finding a similar room to the last one except there were three futons instead of four. Unfortunately, not a soul was inside. "Nothing here." After closing that door, she opened the door to the third one, finding only three futons and two people in a heavy make-out session under the covers of one of them, oblivious to anything going on around them. "Nothing here." Kasumi closed the door and started walking off…only to freeze in mid step, her eyes widening at the realization. "Wait a minute…!" Turning on her heel, she opened the sliding door, snuck up on the unsuspecting couple, and then quickly yanked away the covers, shocking the two lovebirds badly. "AHA!" Kasumi declared victoriously, pointing at the two people. "I knew it! It's you two from before, Kenta and Marina!"

Kenta and Marina, who were thankfully fully clothed, stared up at the hovering red head, both ashamed and mortified. "Err…w-well, you see, we were kind of cold a minute ago, so we kinda decided to warm up here…together…with no one else around…" Kenta pathetically attempted to convince Kasumi nothing was going. However, Kasumi's disbelieving gaze proved otherwise.

"Yeah right! I just knew something was going on between you too! I haven't seen enough of you two to tell for sure, but this proves it! But you know…" Kasumi crossed her arms, looking serious. "You two shouldn't really be sneaking around, doing stuff like this. I have half a mind to tell Ibuki-sensei on you!" She turned around and headed for the door.

"No, wait!" Marina cried. Kasumi stopped, but didn't turn around. "Please…don't tell on us. I mean, it's not like we want to sneak around like this. To be honest, I don't like it as much as you or Kenta-kun does, but our teammates…they are truly vicious when they want to be. At one point, Yamato and Musashi threatened to hurt Kenta-kun if he tried to get too close to me. Sure, they were really mad at that point, but I don't want to risk losing Kenta-kun. He…he means everything to me…" Marina sniffled a little, trying not to shed tears at the thought.

"Marina-chan…please don't cry…" Kenta pleaded softly, gently grasping her hands. "I'm sure we could convince our teammates to be friends and accept us. I'm doing what I can to convince Kojiro and Kosaburo. Kojiro…well…he may be stubborn, but isn't exactly the brightest of us, so he won't be too hard to convince. But with Kosaburo, he's the most stubborn of us. He won't go down without a fight, but neither will I. Don't worry about it Marina-chan, everything will work itself out for us, I promise." He brought Marina into an embrace, gently stroking her back to soothe her worries.

Kasumi closed her eyes for a moment, trying to quell the powerful feeling grabbing at her heart. She knew exactly what it was: jealousy. It was strange, considering she never felt this while seeing couples who were as deeply in love as Kenta and Marina were. Before, she couldn't care less, but now…it was almost as if she actually wanted something like that, which in her opinion was just a step too close to insanity. Come to think of it, she never had any of these strange feelings until sometime after she met…Satoshi. Suddenly, she was struck with an idea so absurd and ridiculous she almost gasped in shock. What if, by sheer impossibility of fate, she was falling for Satoshi? Preposterous! That was just too crazy of an idea, even for her.

But the more she thought about it, the more appealing of an idea it seemed. Satoshi wasn't such a bad guy. He's proven that more times than she could count. He told her that he cared about her. Heck, the guy even went out of his way to help her out whenever she truly needed it. What more could she want? Of course, that was the problem entirely. What did she, the man-hating tomboy, truly want? Did she really want to throw away her old ways, which have never failed her before, just for one boy? As she spent time with Satoshi, she started forgetting more and more of the reasons why she didn't like guys in the first place. At first, it was because she felt distrust in the many males she had encountered in the past. But perhaps there was one other reason, the real reason. Perhaps she was running away from the truth and used her homicidal father as an excuse. To care about someone so deeply and then betrayed by that same person would scar anyone's mind, and back then, Kasumi was a very impressionable child. She tried to get over it, but with almost every guy she met, they were mean and cruel to her, never giving her a chance to befriend them. But then she met Satoshi, and all of that changed. The way he cared about his friends and Pokémon, how he fought for what he believed in so strongly, just about everything about him was appealing to her in some strange way. But, she still couldn't fall for him. No, it was more like she was afraid to. The ache in her heart was still there. There were so many doubts and fears. Was she really willing to toss her worries aside just to give Satoshi a shot?

Not a chance.

Of course, she wasn't completely a closed-minded person. She just needed to spend more time with him, learn more about the dense samurai, get to know the real Satoshi. But maybe, just maybe, Satoshi could extinguish all of her fears and doubts. Only then would she truly consider her unknown feelings for him…

Finally feeling satisfied, Kasumi decided to end her thoughts immediately and focus on the two people in behind her, who had been staring at her for several minutes, wondering if she fell asleep standing up or not. She turned around and greeted them with a reassuring smile and wink. "Alright, I'll let you guys off the hook this time. As a matter of fact, I'll even try to help you guys out for a bit. But! You can't just go around sneaking like this! I can see that you two care about each other deeply, but had it been anyone else, worse case being Ibuki-sensei or your teammates, things would have got complicated really fast. If you can promise me that, I'll try to help you two out, okay?"

"That's great! Thank you Kasumi-san!" Kenta and Marina thanked. The threesome immediately started talking to each other, attempting to come up with any possible plans and ideas.

Elsewhere in the establishment, three of the four members of Team Rocket sat at the table in the lobby area, each drinking a cup of delicious green tea made by Shinobu. Ayane, the only one not present, had gone off to enjoy herself while the other three relaxed. Unfortunately for one, he couldn't relax due to the annoying banter of his teammates, who were taking up both of his sides.

"So Anji-kun," Ryuga started, "Of all the girls who work here, who would you like to go out with?"

"Motoko, no question about it. The girl's got some backbone, not to mention she's got a nice back to match." The tall and lean fighter said with a grin. "How about you Ryu-kun?"

"It's a tough call. Mitsune is hot I'll admit, but Narusegawa has got the cuteness in her. I just wish the younger ones were a bit older, like Shinobu. If only she was around my age…"

"Bah! You always fall for the cute and shy ones. You're such a softy." Anji grunted, taking a sip of his tea.

"I am not! It's the cuteness! That's the real way to go!"

Anji slammed his fist in debate, glaring at Ryuga in disbelief. "What? Just how many screws did you lose in that pebble of a head you got? You gotta get a woman with toughness!"

Ryuga did the same action and glared right back at Anji. "Now who's the one who lost it? Adorable cuteness is the best asset of a woman."

"No, it's toughness."

"Cuteness!"

"Toughness!"

"Cuteness!"

"Toughness!"

"Cuteness!"

"Tough—" The eternal cycle of the more-than-useless argument was interrupted by a loud and angry slam on the table, causing the two to jump from the sound.

"You…incompetent…MORONS! Do you two realize that for the past hour, you've been talking about nothing but useless crap? If you two dunderheads are going to think or talk about anything useful, it should be about how to defeat Team Tatsujin in the near future, not about something as useless as girls! God, such buffoons you all are!" Kabushi snapped, aggravated well beyond reasoning.

Ryuga huffed and turned his back on the team leader while sipping on his green tea. "Bet you wouldn't say that if Ayane-chan was around…" He muttered under his breath, just loud enough for Kabushi to hear.

Any liquid that was in Kabushi's mouth was promptly ejected due to the shock of Ryuga's statement. "What does she have to do with anything?"

Anji, doing the same action as Ryuga, decided to throw his two cents into the conversation. "Get real Kabu-kun. You two got something going on and we know it."

"There's nothing going on between us! We've had this conversation over a million times already! Nothing happened!"

"Yeah, yeah…" Ryuga waved haphazardly, still not facing Kabushi. "That's what they all say. Your story about 'going out to train' was obviously a lie to get it on with Ayane-chan. Putting it logically, you two were alone for over an hour, and when we found you two by surprise, you two were hugging each other."

Kabush's eyes twitched irritably at the memory. Some time ago, it was nighttime and Kabushi told Ryuga and Anji he wanted to train before he slept. When he was outside, he saw Ayane training and decided to train with her. They had been at it for over an hour and got some good exercise out of it. Of course, just as the two were about to head back, Ryuga and Anji jumped out of the bushes shouting 'AHA!' which scared the two into hugging each other out of fright. After realizing what they did, they shot away from each other, feeling embarrassed by the action. Ryuga and Anji had been talking about it nonstop ever since. "Like I said, we were training until you two scared the hell out of us! It was a reactionary response!"

"What about the fact you two were all sweaty and exhausted as though if you two were, I don't know, making-out like a couple of love-struck teens?" Anji commented.

"We. Were. Training. Dammit!"

"Well that's one hell of a way to get exercise. I wonder if I could get that Narusegawa girl to train with me…" Ryuga thought aloud, grinning.

"It wasn't THAT kind of training you twit!"

"Riiiiight…" Both Anji and Ryuga drawled impishly.

"But you know Kabu-kun," Ryuga started, "I'll admit that Ayane-chan is a good catch, but you should try for that Narusegawa girl."

"No, don't listen to that fool! Motoko is the way to go!" Anji suggested.

"It's Narusegawa! That's the right one for you!"

"No, it's Motoko!"

"Narusegawa!"

"Motoko!"

"Narusegawa!"

"Motoko!"

While the argument dragged on, Kabushi ran his hand through his neat red hair while pressing his forehead on the table. 'I don't know these people. I don't know these people…' He chanted mentally.

Takeshi, one always on the hunt, started his search for hot girls when he stumbled upon the living room where Mitsune, commonly known as Kitsune, laid on the couch, reading up on horse races and other such things based on gambling. Looking around and making sure no one was nearby to stop his attempt, Takeshi grinned sneakily. 'Hehehe, now's my chance!' Striding over to the couch, he knelt in front of the unfortunate victim, who had yet to acknowledge Takeshi's existence. "So we meet again my lovely Kitsune!"

Kitsune glanced from her magazine, unsure of what was going through the hormone charged teen's mind. "Huh?"

"Don't you remember me? It is I, Takeshi! Please grant me my one true wish, which is to be bathed in your divine love, beauty and affection! My heart, oh how it sings your name over and over, pronouncing its eternal devotion for you!" Takeshi cried dramatically, clasping Kistune's hand.

'Hmm…this guy is a lot more interesting than Keitaro-kun. Heh, I think I'll have some fun with him…' Kitsune thought sinisterly. Going along with her plan, her eyes glittered with admiration as she leaned towards Takeshi, surprising him. "My, your words are so true and honest. I'm flattered by your strong feelings for me. Ever since I first saw you, my heart wouldn't stop pounding, wishing for the same thing. Please, see for yourself…" She took one of Takeshi's hands and placed it on her breast.

"Gwah…!" Takeshi's jaw dropped, shocked beyond all imagination. Did his hand do what he thought it did? 'YATTA (awesome, or lucky)! Finally, I'm going to get a girl! This too good to be true!'

Unfortunately, it was, because within the next few moments, the two heard foot steps approaching. Suddenly…

"KYAAAA! Sexual harassment!" Kitsune cried. The footsteps accelerated and out of the hallway appeared an alarmed Ibuki. The sight of what the blue haired teacher saw made her blood boil. Kitsune, faster than the eye could catch, made the notion as though she was trying to push Takeshi away and had tears threatening to fall from her eyes. Takeshi's hands were still on her chest, and his jaw was still hung open, but this time in horror.

"TAKESHI!" Ibuki roared, loud enough to shake the building, "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING TO THAT GIRL?"

"I…but…she just…I didn't…!" Takeshi stammered, truly caught in a bind.

"I have no idea what's wrong with him!" Kitsune sniffled dramatically. "I just asked him if he needed anything and he just grabbed my breast, asking if I liked it. I tried to tell him no, but he kept at it! I feel so violated…"

Ibuki stormed towards Takeshi and lifted him high in the air by the scruff of his fighter's vest. Her glare was murderous and spelled trouble for Takeshi. "Takeshi-san, we're are going to have a little _chat_ outside!" Not giving him a moment to defend himself, Ibuki dragged him outside the hotel and closed it. The next series of sounds would send chills down anyone's spine as Takeshi was brutally punished for 'harassment'. Kitsune sweat-dropped as she heard Takeshi pleaded desperately for a quick death. She was just playing around to get him in trouble, not trying to get him killed...

Hearing someone else walking down the stairs, she turned around and saw Furuura approaching. Once Furuura heard the cries of Takeshi and the sounds of his bones breaking, she instantly figured out what happened. "Huh, sounds like Takeshi was at it again. I swear, that boy has a one track mind…" The auburn haired girl sighed.

"That…doesn't happen to him every time he gets punished by her…right?" Kitsune asked, wincing at the sound of Takeshi getting beaten down by a heavy blunt object.

Furuura cupped her ears to listen better, listing to the repetition of drop kicks and punches done to what sounded like Takeshi's skull. "Nah…it's usually worse than this. Sounds like Ibuki-sensei is in a good mood today." 'Sounds like' referred to the sound of limbs being twisted like a pretzel.

"EH?" Kitsune nearly fell over in shock. If this was Ibuki in a good mood, she never wanted to see her in a bad mood.

Suddenly, the door flung open and the now viciously massacred Takeshi was tossed on the floor in front of a horrified Kitsune. Takeshi attempted to stand up, but was pressed onto the floor by Ibuki's foot. "Now apologize to her!" Ibuki demanded, pointing to Kitsune.

"G-g-gomen nasai, Konno-sama!" Takeshi apologized, starting to faint from the excruciating pain.

"Eh…okay, I'll forgive you just once." Kitsune said, accepting the apology.

"A-arigatou …" With that, Takeshi fainted.

"Furuura-san, would you mind taking him to his room and using your healing arts on him?" Ibuki requested, pointing to the almost lifeless corpse.

"I don't mind at all, Ibuki-sensei. I'll see you at the onsen. Speaking of which, what time will it be?" Furuura grunted as she lifted Takeshi on her back, using his arms as grips.

"Let's see…" Ibuki glanced at her digital watch, which read 4:45 pm. "Hm…I suppose six o'clock will do. It'll give everyone more time to get to know the place. Be sure to let everyone know that. Konno-san, would you be sure to let everyone know that. It was part of the arrangement me and Urashima-san worked out."

Takeshi's brutal beating fresh in her head, Kitsune stood up and bowed swiftly. "H-hai, Ibuki-sama!" With quick haste, she darted off to tell everyone the scheduled time for the onsen.

Furuura sweat-dropped, staring at Kitsune's leaving form. "Uh…Ibuki-sensei, did you really have to scare Konno-san like that?"

Ibuki winked at Furuura. "That's what she gets for messing with one of _my_ students." She chuckled lightly as she passed by a very confused Furuura.

It wasn't long until 6 o'clock, which meant everyone, both employee and guest, gathered before the doors which separated the two gender-specific onsens. Everyone was dressed in either towels or bathrobes, properly showered and ready to take on the onsen. Ibuki and Keitaro, both clad in a long towel, stood in front of the two groups of genders. Ibuki was confident yet stoic while Keitaro seemed a little nervous with being the center of attention. Sensing this in Keitaro, Ibuki decided to go first to ease the tension.

"Alright, here are the rules for the onsen. This applies to both employees here at the inn and the students of Arcadia. Rule 1: Absolutely no tampering with the wall that separates the men from the women. Anyone who does so will be severely punished, along with everyone from that particular onsen." Takeshi received many glares from all of the men, excluding Keitaro, which really put him on the spot. "Rule 2: No climbing over the barrier wall and/or peeking on the other side. Doing so will call for the same punishment as the last rule and also no dinner for the night. Rule 3: Do not bring anything with you except for your towels and/or bathrobes. Rule 4: No fighting what so ever. I do not wish to hear of any _accidental_ drowning. Rule 5: This is for those who carry Pokémon with them. Each onsen is big enough to house both human and Pokémon. However, to ensure safety and prevent overpopulation, each person can release only one Pokémon at a time. Satoshi, in your case, since your Pikachu does not wish to be in a Pokéball, he would have to stay out of the onsen area and come back only after you've recalled your other Pokémon, got it?" Satoshi nodded, allowing her to continue. "Rule 6: This is also in regards to Pokémon users. One of my Pokémon will always be present to keep watch of both sides. This Pokémon will have the ability to tell if someone is abusing their Pokémon's powers in order to gain a sneak peek of the opposite gender. If anyone is caught doing so I will not spare them or their party of a harsh punishment. Other than this, you may enjoy the onsen and do as you wish. Now I'll let Keitaro explain the schedule for tonight and the plans for tomorrow."

"Thank you Ibuki-san." Keitaro whipped out a sheet of paper and began reading from it. "Now for tonight's schedule it will include the following: It is now 6:20. At 6:30, we will all enter the onsen. All of us will have a time limit of an hour and a half to do as he or she pleases. That will bring us to 8 pm, where we will have a special dinner. Since we have so many people, this will also be separated by genders. At 9 pm, it will be lights out for the night. Tomorrow we will be having a fireworks display in commemoration to the coming of our guest. There will be a great barbecue as well as games and entertainment, so we hope you can enjoy yourselves. Also, you were warned ahead of time to bring festival attire. This is because a lot of our parties and other such forms of activity will be considered a festive event. The schedule for everything will be determined by 2 pm tomorrow, so until then, enjoy our hospitality!" With that, the clock hit 6:30, which allowed everyone passage to the onsen.

* * *

Whew! This is starting to look better than I originally planned! Well, here's the beginning of a small mini arc of BL. As you can see, there will be some fun crossover action from Love Hina (just imagine the possibilities), so stay tuned to see what fun (more like chaos) is bound to happen in the next chapter! Please review and get ready for some more BL greatness!

Disclaimer 2: I do not own Love Hina, it's characters, or the Hinata Inn. Some guy does, forgot his name.


	20. Love Tajiri: Just one look

Disclaimer: I've said this 20 times already. I don't own Pokémon, nor do I own Love Hina.

* * *

Everyone who entered the hot springs area was immediately impressed. Rock formations and bamboo trees decorated the surrounding area. It was clear to tell the onsen was actually one giant one since half of it was cut off by a sturdy bamboo wall. The grey floor, made out of a sleek stone material, was cleaned prior to the bather's arrival. Along the edges of the onsen were a few batches of rocks, giving it a more natural look. The onsen itself was big enough for everyone from each gender and a few extra to fit in. Not wanting to waste any time, everyone jumped in to take a dip.

On the men's side, Satoshi closed his eyes and leaned against a curved edge of the smoothed rock formation, Raigeki floating next to him on his back. "Ah…this is the life…" The two sighed happily, feeling very relaxed.

Their comfort was interrupted by the sound of sloshing heading towards their direction. Satoshi cracked open an eye to see none other than Kabushi heading towards him. The teal eyed samurai smirked when he noticed Raigeki. "Nice Pikachu…"

If Satoshi noticed the implied sarcasm, he didn't show it. "Thanks. What Pokémon do you have?"

Kabushi grinned as he enlarged a Pokéball. "Thought you would never ask. Raijin, come on out!" The red and white ball cracked opening, releasing a white flash materializing outside of the water. The Pokémon that appeared surprised both Satoshi and Raigeki. He looked a lot like Raigeki, except almost twice as tall, orange fur, white stomach and yellow cheek sacs. His tail was long, thin and black except for the yellow thunderbolt-shaped extension at the end of it. Raijin was a smug and tough looking Pokémon, staring down Raigeki with black, snide eyes.

With a growl, the Pikachu jumped out of the water and landed in front of Raijin. Raijin crossed his arms, grinning toothily. "So you're the mighty mouse I've been hearing about. Quite frankly, I'm not impressed." The Raichu taunted, causing Raigeki's growl to deepen.

"Just great…a Raichu. Why don't you go and hide under a rock where you belong?" Raigeki snapped harshly, his red cheeks crackling with electricity.

Raijin remained unfazed by the insult. "That depends. The last time I went under a rock, it happened to be your mom."

Raigeki prepared a powerful Thunderbolt attack to fry the smart-mouthed Raichu. "Son of a…!"

"Raigeki!" Satoshi scolded, not liking where this was going. "What's with you all of the sudden?"

"Satoshi, you should know that Raichus are enemies of Pikachus. They think just because they're bigger than us gives them the right to push us around!" Raigeki informed, not taking his eyes off Raijin.

"Your mom found out first-hand after meeting me!" Raijin insulted, gesturing himself.

That tore it. Raigeki lunged at Raijin with bared teeth, preparing to rip him apart. With barely any effort, Raijin smacked him with his long tail, hurling him into the water. Resurfacing, Raigeki was about to head back when Satoshi held him back, getting a minor shock from the bristling electricity. Luckily, it wasn't strong enough to shock everyone else in the water. "Raigeki, get a hold of yourself!"

"Yeah, listen to your friend there. Take a dip and cool off. Or rather, warm up a bit before even daring to face me." Raijin jumped in the onsen next to Kabushi, who chuckled at Raijin's insulting antics.

Kabushi high-fived Raijin's tail. "Nice greeting Raijin!"

"You gotta show the little ones whose boss!"

"Hey you guys, knock it off!" Keitaro demanded, stepping in front of Kabushi and Raijin. "As manager of the Hinata Inn, I will not allow abusive tactics used on my guest. Please refrain from bothering Satoshi and his friend any further." Though his face was serious and determined, his legs were trembling, being that he was one of the few people who never met a Pokémon until now.

Kabushi huffed defiantly. "Fine. I was just about done anyway. Come on Raijin." He and his partner Raijin headed to the other side of the onsen to meet with Anji and Ryuga. If Satoshi felt any dislike towards Kabushi, the intensity was doubled now.

Keitaro faced Satoshi, feeling the tension from the boy and his Pokémon. "I don't know what's going on between you two, but you can rest assured that I'll do the best I can to make sure your stay here is pleasant."

"Uh…yeah…" Satoshi's thoughts weren't really on Raijin and Kabushi's similar attitudes, but mainly with Raigeki's. What was it about the Raichu that got him so worked up? He could ask him about it now, but it might not be the right time. Besides, this was supposed to be a vacation. If he let things get to him now, then he would never enjoy this vacation. He turned to Raigeki, only to notice his attention being drawn to something.

"Hey, Satoshi-kun, check that out!" Raigeki pointed to a creature on top of the barrier. It was a long, slender blue dragon with three round, blue orbs, one on the neck and two at the tip of her tail. Her ears were shaped as miniature wings and there was a tiny horn on her forehead. The dragon's black eyes scanned periodically back and forth between the two onsens, keeping a sharp eye for any suspicious activity.

"Huh, if I'm not mistaken, I think that's a Dragonair, a very rare dragon-type Pokémon."

Raigeki rolled his eyes. "Gee Satoshi, like none of us could guess it was a dragon-type."

Satoshi was about to make a retort when he noticed Takeshi in deep thought. Curious, yet a little worried, he walked over to the Team Tenshi fighter. "Hey, Takeshi, what's on your mind?"

"Hold on one minute, I'm planning something…" Takeshi glanced up at the Dragonair and down at one of his Pokéballs repeatedly, calculating the key parts of his plan. After some decision making, he grinned widely. "I got it!" Grabbing his Pokéball, he enlarged it and prepared to summon the Pokémon inside. "Come out Kagemaru!" From the ball was released a grey wolf with red eyes and a black mane. The Pokémon, who was summoned in the water, swam to his human partner.

"Yo! What's up!" Kagemaru greeted.

Takeshi leaned in to whisper. "Hey, you see that Dragonair on top of that wall?"

The Mightyena looked up to see the said dragon scanning the men's area. "Ya, a real cutie. What about her?"

"I want you to distract her for me using that attack we've been practicing."

What attac—oh! That attack! I gotcha!" Kagemaru dove under water and quickly leapt out, catching the dragon's attention with the splash. Once the Mightyena landed on the ground, his eyes locked onto the Dragonair's, who at the moment was temporarily paralyzed by the sexy wolf's beautiful red eyes. The fact he was dripping wet added to the effect of the Attract attack, which began to take effect. Dragonair's eyes turned into hearts as she fell head over heels for Kagemaru. "Hey baby, you're looking mighty lonely up there. Why don't you bring your sexy self over here and allow me to work my magic?" He said huskily, winking for extra effect.

It worked. The love-struck Dragonair floated down and followed Kagemaru to who-knows-where, taking away Ibuki's spy. Takeshi's grin couldn't possibly grow any wider. "Okay, now that Dragonair's gone, I can go with phase two." He took out another Pokéball and prepared to enter the second phase of his plan. "Let's go Ryoko!" He released the snake Pokémon, Seviper. Ryoko slithered across the watered and wrapped herself around Takeshi, resting her chin on his shoulder.

"You called for me?" She asked.

"Yeah. I need your help with something. First off, check out the girl's side for me and see if they noticed us yet."

"As you wish." Ryoko headed off into the bushes, stealthily making her way into the girl's onsen.

Satoshi, watching the scene unfold before him, was astonished with Takeshi's desperation tactics, all just to see girls taking a bath. "Well…at least Shigeru isn't stooping so low as to do such a thing."

"Shadow, help out Takeshi's Seviper!" Shigeru commanded, summoning the Umbreon. Shadow followed Shigeru's directions and used his dark-type abilities to give him the stealth advantage.

Satoshi's jaw dropped in astonishment. "Not you too!"

"Don't worry so much. I'll be sure to help get you a peek too!" Shigeru assured.

"I don't want any such thing!"

"Oh well, your loss! Come on Takeshi, let's do this!"

"Aw yeah, my man!" Takeshi high-fived his partner in crime as the two began to scheme.

Satoshi released a heavy sigh, scratching his head. "Well, I'm sure the rest of the people here are sane enough not to attempt such a crazy—GAH!" He gasped aloud when he saw Ryuga, Anji, Kosaburo, Kojiro, Kenji and even Hiroshi hovering around Takeshi and Shigeru, joining their sneaky plan. "You guys are insane!"

"Shh! Keep it down! We're gonna get caught if you yell like that!" Shigeru chastised.

Satoshi grumbled but kept silent as the plot began to thicken. When Shadow and Ryoko returned from scouting, they gave the okay to start the operation. "Alright, the plan's set. Time to get down to business!" Takeshi cracked his knuckles, preparing to enter the next phase of the plan. "Okay, Hiroshi, you know what to do."

Hiroshi nodded and took out a Pokéball. "Let's go Kazuma! We need your help!" From the Pokéball emerged the Psi Pokémon, Kadabra. "Use your powers to hold the bath barrier steady for us." Kazuma nodded and flashed his three-fingered hands at the wall and used his telekinesis to hold the onsen barrier.

"Now it's our turn!" Takeshi gave the single for Ryoko to wrap around him in order to stay above water. He then brought her in front of the barrier and used the sharp, triangular-shaped tip of her tail to pierce it. A hole was made, which was small enough for it to maintain invisibility, but big enough for someone to see through. Ryoko made several of them, enough for all of the guys to see through. The guys who were in on the plan proceeded to look through the holes.

Keitaro couldn't stand watching the boys do this and decided to say something about it. "Don't you all see how wrong all of this is? The women bathing there are our friends and guest. You all should be ashamed of yourselves, treating those poor girls in such a cruel way. They deserve privacy and respect like we do and should not be depraved in such a dishonest fashion. As manager of his inn, I cannot stand by and watch this go on!"

"Finally, someone here who makes sense!" Kabushi exasperated, also feeling annoyed.

"That's right! So please stop this craziness before we get into trouble!" Satoshi pleaded. Leo, Shuu and Kenta nodded in agreement.

Unfortunately for them, the peeping toms weren't paying any attention to them. "My god, look at the size of those things!" Ryuga gasped, his jaw dropping.

"Man, you guys are missing out on the action!" Shigeru exclaimed, trying to control his excitement. Most of the guys were trying hard to control their nose bleeds, a majority of them failing.

"I see. Well, you guys leave me with no choice. I'll have to report you all to Ibuki-sama!" Keitaro turned around and prepared to step out of the onsen when a hand held fast onto his shoulder.

"Now hold it one minute…" Shigeru halted, a serious look on his face. "I get what you mean by how disrespectful it is, and really I agree with every bit of that. But don't you see that good can also come out of this? Spying on women like this is not a 100 percent dishonor, but really a form of respect. We can admire their true beauty, which was veiled by clothes. Now come on, I've heard about this place from way before. I know that this place used to be an all girl's dormitory and you were the manager of this place back then. Knowing this, I'm almost positive you like at least one of them. Don't you want to see that one person in their most natural form of beauty imaginable?"

"Err…well…maybe a little…" Keitaro admitted, blushing slightly. He then shook away his thoughts, regaining his composure. "However, even if there was a girl I liked, I wouldn't want to do this to them. I'm going to report this to Ibuki-sama and there's nothing you can do about it!"

"I see…you pose a good argument…time for plan B!" Without warning, Shigeru grabbed him in a head-lock and dragged him towards one of the holes. Keitaro started thrashing helplessly, unable to break the hold Shigeru had on him.

"Let me go! Don't make me do this!"

"Don't be such a baby. Just one look won't hurt!"

"I won't look! There's no way I'm going…to…look…" Keitaro's thrashing slowed to a stop when he was forced to look through one of the holes. It felt as though his heart stop when he saw the girl of interest bathing herself and chatting with the guest. Any thoughts he had against spying on the girls been quickly thrown out the window. He was completely pacified.

"Well, that solves one problem. Now we just gotta get everyone else to go for it." Shigeru stroked his chin in through as he noticed Kabushi, Shuu, Kenta, Leo and Satoshi sitting on the other side, trying their best to stay away from trouble. He went towards his spying allies and started talking with them again.

"Hmph, what could those idiots be planning this time?" Kabushi pondered, not liking the sinister grins on their faces.

"I don't know. Just try to ignore them." Shuu suggested, leaning against the rocks. The five bystanders sweat-dropped when their respective teammates glanced at them with evil looks. This was not going to end well…

Meanwhile on the girl's side, most of the girls were either talking amongst each, playing around, or bathing themselves. Shinobu had been playing with Su when she noticed Haruka sitting by herself at the corner of the onsen, glancing upward aimlessly. Wanting to keep the lonely guest company, Shinobu took a break from hanging around Su to join Haruka. "Haruka-san? Is everything alright?" Broken out of her train of thought, Haruka glanced at the little girl and nodded. "You have a lot of good friends. I met one of them earlier, Leo-sempai. Even though I've only talked to him once, he's really nice and smart. With the way he talks, you wouldn't be able to tell how young he is. He's very mature."

Haruka giggled and gestured Shinobu's hand. With a nod, the girl gave Haruka her hand. With it, Haruka traced letters in order to communicate without words. "He is very likable." Haruka wrote.

"Yeah. I think so too."

Haruka wrote another message while grinning knowingly. "You like him, don't you?"

The timid girl turned red all over. "L-l-l-like him? I-I-I don't like him! I-I mean I like him, but I don't like him like him! Well, he is very nice and handsome, but we've only just met!"

"You two would look great together."

Shinobu's blush deepened as she lowered her head and twiddled her thumbs. "Y-y-you really think so?" Haruka nodded. "Ano…do you have someone you like?"

A blush crept upon Haruka's cheeks. She had plenty of time to think about such a question, one that she asked herself not long ago. It wasn't long until she arrived at a startling answer. She always had liked someone, but never stopped to think about it until earlier. However, how strongly she liked this person was still a mystery. "I think so." Haruka answered the girl.

Shinobu was immediately curious. "What's he like?"

If Haruka had to list all of the boy's qualities, especially the ones she liked, she would be writing messages all night long. So instead, she summarized it in a few words. "He's the best friends a girl could ever have."

"Sounds like a great guy."

'He is…' Haruka thought wistfully. Shinobu noted the look on Haruka's face.

"Did he come along the trip with you?" Haruka shook her head, causing Shinobu to be surprised. "Why not? Did something happen?"

Haruka wrote another message on Shinobu's palm. "He went somewhere. I haven't heard from him for a long time."

"Oh…I'm sorry to hear that. I hope you get to see him soon."

Haruka released a sigh. 'Me too Shinobu, me too…' The air between the two grew a little uncomfortable. Shinobu could tell Haruka missed her friend dearly, so she felt it was best to change the subject, which she did. The two soon began talking about various topics, hoping to learn a little more about each other.

On the other side of the same onsen, Kasumi had been chatting with Marina when Furuura made her way towards them. "Hey Kasumi-chan!" She called.

Kasumi turned and noticed Furuura calling her. "Oh, Furuura-chan. It's been awhile since we've talked."

"Yeah, it has." Furuura looked back and forth between Marina and Kasumi. "…Alright spill it, what are you guys talking about?"

"Um…well…" Marina gave Kasumi a questioning glance, wondering if Furuura was trustworthy. Knowing her childhood friend well, Kasumi nodded. "I just have a small situation to mend, and Kasumi is helping me out."

Furuura quirked her eyebrow. "Oh? Well come on, out with it! Don't keep me in suspense now!"

"I'll explain, if that's alright with you…" Kasumi said to Marina. When the light blue haired girl nodded, Kasumi explained the entire situation to Furuura, making sure to leave out the fact she caught Marina and Kenta in one of their private meetings.

"I see. This sounds kind of serious. I'll be glad to help in anyway I can, and I'll keep it a secret." Furuura assured.

"Thanks Furuura-chan! I knew I could count on you!" Kasumi praised. The three then began making plans to help their new friend overcome her problem.

In the middle of the conversation, Kasumi noticed someone at the corner of her eye; someone with white hair and blue eyes sitting by herself. The woman seemed comfortable, but had a tinge of loneliness hanging over her. Kasumi was familiar with that, being that she used to be a loner. It was comfortable, but also a very depressing life. Also, she recognized the girl as Ayane, the ninja class student from Team Rocket. Curious, she walked over to the Team Rocket member, who glanced at Kasumi at the corner of her eye.

"Um…hi." Kasumi greeted somewhat casually.

"Hey." Ayane said simply.

There was a pause between them. Kasumi decided to break it, wanting to get to know more about Ayane. "So…aren't you bored being here by yourself?"

Ayane shrugged. "A little, but its nothing I'm not used to."

"So you're the lone wolf type, huh?"

"How'd you guess?"

"You can say I'm a retired veteran."

Ayane chuckled. "Nice to know someone who knows how to live comfortably, though I wonder…why are you talking to me?"

"What do you mean?"

"Aren't we rivals, or rather, enemies? Why would you want to talk to me?"

Kasumi took a seat next to the ninja, giving her a warm smile. "You don't seem like an enemy to me. Sure, maybe rivals, but can't rivals talk normally once in awhile?"

"Er, well…Kabu-kun would probably be upset, since when it comes to you guys, he gets very competitive."

"Satoshi's the same way, except he's friendlier about it compared to Kabushi. Looks like we hang with some very competitive guys."

"You can say that again." Ayane chortled. It was strange, but she felt rather comfortable talking to Kasumi. Normally, she wouldn't be as talkative with people except for her teammates. Maybe they were both very similar people, which attracted her attention to Kasumi.

Little did Ayane know, Kasumi felt the same way. "I know this sounds random, but you seem like a pretty decent person. Why is someone like you doing all of those bad things with the others?"

"I do things like that because I want to." Kasumi was about to say something, but Ayane wasn't finished. "I know you're going to say something about how wrong it is, but truthfully, I do that solely for the fact it's against the rules. I wasn't always like this though. I used to be one of those 'good girls' who followed rules zealously and always scored high marks. Back then, I hated that life. It was always stressful, and it never seemed like I truly got recognition. But then, when I was at the brink of melting down, I met Kabu-kun and the others. At first, it was pretty scaring doing all of those bad things, but with Kabu-kun…not only was it fun, but I felt alive. I was freed from a life of normalcy. I mean, its not like we do really bad things like killing and stuff, even we have limits to what we would actually do, but we just do what we want. Don't you like freedom once in awhile? Don't you want to do whatever you want and not worry about the consequences?"

"Hmm…I guess I do, but it doesn't feel right to cause trouble for people. I'll admit that you have a good point, but I still don't agree that freedom justifies such actions. I'm not going to say what you do is wrong and you shouldn't do it. It's your life, you do want you want with it. But I will say that I believe in doing the right things, and that's how I'll live."

A small smile graced Ayane's lips. "I guess we just live on two different worlds."

"Yeah."

"Hey, Kasumi-chan! Come over here!" Furuura called, waving at the Team Tatsujin fighter.

"Looks like your friends are calling you."

"I suppose I'd better go and see what's up. Do you want to come along with me?"

Ayane eyed Kasumi in slight surprise, not expecting such an invitation. However… "I think I'll decline that offer this time."

'A loner to the end…oh well…' Kasumi shrugged and headed off to meet Furuura and Marina.

Ayane had a smirk on her face as she watched Kasumi run off to meet her friends. Maybe next time…

With the majority of the girls, they were all listening to some of the stories the girls of Hinata Inn had to tell, especially Naru's stories of how she and Keitaro always managed to get into one strange incident after another, which seemed to always end up with Keitaro receiving a deadly punch from Naru. Everyone was laughing and having a good time, but Ibuki was acting very cautious. Naru noticed this. "Is something the matter Ibuki-san?"

"I don't like it…" Ibuki said ominously. Her eyes were narrowed suspiciously at the bamboo barrier. "It's way too quiet over there. I just know Takeshi is up to something…but what?"

"You always think Takeshi is up to something." Duplica commented, "…But then again, Takeshi really is always up to something…"

"I'll have my scout check out the guy's side." When Ibuki looked at the spot her scout was stationed, she was met with a surprise. "Where did she go? I specifically told her not to move without letting me know. What's going on?" Her eye brows arched in agitation when she arrived at a conclusion.

Takeshi was up to something.

"Hm? What's that?" Ibuki noticed several spots in the bamboo barrier. They were small, almost unnoticeable to the naked eye, but if someone was close enough to peek through… "Narusegawa-san…was the barrier peek-proofed before we came today?"

"Yes. Every one of us made sure of it." Naru answered.

A growl escaped Ibuki's lips, causing most of the girls to quiver in fear. The teacher's face was burning red from anger. "Girls!" She called, grabbing the attention of all the females in the onsen. She turned to face them, revealing a scary expression. "We've got ourselves some peeping toms to take care of…"

On the men's side, the guys who were involved in getting peeks had been relentlessly trying to get the rest of the boys to join their insidious plot. Leo, Shuu and Kenta proved to be too challenging to persuade. The only ones left were Satoshi and Kabushi, who their respective friends and teammates targeted next.

"Hey Kabu-kun!" Ryuga started, grinning ear to ear.

"No." Kabushi answered immediately. "Don't get me involved in any of your shameless acts. I refuse to stoop so low as to peeping."

Anji crossed his arms and stood in front of Kabushi. "Quit acting so honorable, Kabu-kun. Just check it out. One look won't hurt. Besides, it would be between us. Who's gonna know?"

"I would, and that's enough for me."

"Oh, is that so…?" Ryuga slid to Kabushi's side, close enough to whisper. "So, you wouldn't want to see Ayane drenched in water without a strip of clothing…?"

Kabushi grew defensive. "Absolutely not!"

"If that's true, then why is your face getting so red?" Ryuga questioned slyly.

Kabushi looked taken aback for a moment before retorting. "It's not like that! Knock it off!"

"Not until you do this one thing, Kabu-kun! This is exactly way we brought you here in the first place!" Anji said with hints of agitation in his voice.

Kabushi gaped at Anji in confusion. "…What are you talking about?"

"You're always such a stiff. It's always Team Tatsujin this, and Team Tatsujin that! Ever since you lost against them, you've been completely obsessed with beating them. Not only that, but you never try to have fun. You're always either training or studying. You gotta loosen up sometimes and just have fun. We brought you out here to relax and take a break, not break your neck training for whatever kind of fight. Man, you're so damned boring sometimes! Lose the act and have some fun already!"

Ryuga eyed Anji in surprise. "That was a little strong Anji..."

"Well, it had to be said. I mean, don't get me wrong, Kabu-kun's a great guy, and I respect him a lot, but it's a little annoying when he's so…withdrawn from the world."

"I got what you mean…but you do realize all we're trying to do is get Kabu-kun to peek right? You didn't have to come out THAT strong!"

Anji took a moment to consider Ryuga's words. "…Good point. Oh well, I guess if Kabu-kun really doesn't want to…"

"…One minute." Kabushi said simply, his head hung low. Anji and Ryuga eyed the samurai oddly. "One minute, that's all you guys get from me, is that clear?"

Ryuga and Anji glanced at each other in surprise, not expecting Kabushi to give in. Not wanting to wait for him to change his mind, they nodded to him. "Go for it." They encouraged. Kabushi took slow steps towards one of the holes, muttering lowly to himself. He had a feeling he was going to regret this…

During the time Kabushi was being persuaded, Satoshi was also having a tough time shaking off his brother. "Do you know how wrong this is? If we're caught, we will be in so much trouble!" Satoshi hissed angrily.

"We haven't got into trouble yet, so that obviously means we haven't been caught." Shigeru reasoned.

"I still don't like it. Aren't you supposed to be my big brother? Why don't you act like one?"

"That's exactly what I'm doing! I'm showing you the world!"

"Yeah, a world of trouble…" Satoshi mumbled. Shigeru crossed his arms in thought. There had to be a way to convince Satoshi, and he would certainly find one no matter what.

"Come on, I just _know_ you want to see Kasumi taking a bath…"

"I do not!" Satoshi denied fiercely. He looked convinced, though the color of his face proved otherwise.

Shigeru smirked evilly. Score. "So, you're telling me you don't think Kasumi is pretty?"

"No! I mean, yes…well…w-what does that have to do with anything?"

"It's obvious. You don't want to look at Kasumi because you don't think she's pretty."

"No, it's not like that at all!"

"So you do think she's pretty, which means you like to look at her!"

"It's not that! I mean…well…" Satoshi directed his eyes downward, flushing in embarrassment. "It's not that I don't think she's pretty…but I don't want to disrespect her like that. She's my friend and teammate, and I know she wouldn't want to do that to me, so I should respect that. It would be kind of wrong to do that to her."

Shigeru sighed. Satoshi sounded so sincere about it. "I get what you mean, but that isn't really as disrespecting as you might think. Sure, it is to a certain degree, but it's not like you're going to make fun of them about it. It's just a small something for yourself, a treasure for your mentality and a look into the other side. If you look for only a few seconds, you can then just look away and have something for yourself. So come on, all you have to do is look once and that's it. I'm not asking you to rob a bank or anything, just a small peek."

Satoshi had an unsure look on his face. His will was breaking. "…J-just one small look. I…I guess it won't be too bad…"

"There we go!" Shigeru patted Satoshi's back, causing the younger brother to stumble forward. "Don't worry; it'll be just between us. One glance and that's all."

"Okay, but that's all!" Satoshi walked stiffly towards one of the peep holes, feeling very nervous. Once he reached it, he noticed someone else next to him, someone he never would've expected. "…Kabushi?"

"If you speak one word of this outside these walls, I'll personally kill you in your sleep."

Satoshi gulped fearfully. "Um…okay." The two leaned in and looked through the holes. Both were met with something unexpected.

There was no one there.

Just then, Satoshi and Kabushi noticed something dreadful. For one, the men's side grew eerily quiet. The two shivered when they felt an intense, angry aura emanating from behind them. Once they put two and two together, they glanced at each other, sweat-dropping in fear. "Oh…crap…" When the two looked at the entrance to the onsen, they paled considerably, along with the rest of the guys.

Ibuki stood in front of the onsen with a look that clearly stated she was furious. Many angry/mortified women stood behind her, cracking their knuckles threateningly. "Alright girls, pick your targets, but leave Takeshi to me!"

The next several minutes were filled with the sounds of screams and horrific beatings.

A brutal and vicious beating later, all of the males were immediately sent to their rooms for the night without dinner. Unfortunately for Satoshi and Kabushi, who were the ones officially caught peeping, they were forced into a room together and were stuck inside the Inn tomorrow when everyone else went to the festival.

Safe to say, they couldn't wait to kill the people who got them in trouble.

The girls, however, were very happy with their dinner, which was very well made and delicious. The dinner was even better with the thought of teaching the boys a lesson about peeking. Though the girls had been satisfied with their punishment, Ibuki wasn't as forgiving. "Girls, there's something I would like to discuss with all of you." Ibuki started, catching their attention. She had a very evil look on her face. "Even though we've taught the boys a lesson about earlier, I don't think we've done enough damage to make sure they won't pull a stunt like that ever again."

"What are you suggesting, Ibuki-san?" Naru asked. The girls who knew their old teacher grinned wickedly, as did Ibuki.

"I say we play a prank on the boys tonight." Most of the girls gasped in surprise, while others giggled at the thought. A few were already plotting against the boys. "We'll all start the operation at midnight, surely they will be asleep around then. I'll assign groups to each floor. From there, each team will infiltrate a room and set up a nice surprise for them. With that in mind, who's in and who's out?"

Unfortunately for the boys, the girls voted unanimously.

On the top floor, Satoshi and Kabushi were stuck inside one of the bedrooms. Kabushi tried to reason with Ibuki about the room arrangements, but because of what happened earlier, his request were denied. The last thing he wanted was to be near his arch nemesis, Satoshi. As the two samurais started fixing up their beds, Kabushi eyed Raigeki, unable to help the curiosity that crept into his mind.

"How come your Pikachu isn't in a Pokéball?" Kabushi asked.

"He's doesn't like enclosed spaces much." Satoshi answered simply.

"Oh." Kabushi shrugged and continued fixing his bed. After that was done, he dug into his bag and pulled out a big, but thin book and started scribbling things inside it. It took over 10 minutes, but once he was satisfied, he placed it back into his backpack. When he turned around to look at Satoshi, he noticed him writing something in a book. Deciding to ignore him, Kabushi got under his covers, intending to go to sleep. After Satoshi was done writing, he turned off the light and slipped into his sheets.

A half hour into the night, Kabushi was shifting uncomfortably in his futon bed, unable to get himself to sleep. He growled silently, knowing why he couldn't sleep. Damn Anji and his rants. '_Why can't they understand that I don't like her in such a way? There's only one person I care for, and it will never be her. Damn persistent teammates, they piss me off to no end._' He shuffled in the bed until he lay on his back, staring at the ceiling. Anji's words clung onto him, and he couldn't shake it off. '_They really think I'm boring and obsessive. Why can't they understand that I just take things seriously? All I want to do is win the Bushido League and defeat Team Tatsujin in the process. If I have 'fun', then that will never happen._' He sighed as he finally grew tired enough to fall asleep.

A few hours later, Ibuki stood in front of the girls, all of who were inside the living room area. They were either sitting down or leaning against the wall, all awaiting Ibuki's orders. "Alright girls, here's the plan: Since there are only 3 floors to this building, we will have to split into three groups; Team 1 to first floor, team 2 to second floor, and team 3 to third floor. The first team will consist of Haruka, Musashi, Shinobu, Su, and Yamato. Second team will be Sakura, Motoko, Mitsune, Duplica and myself. The last team is Kasumi, Ayane, Narusegawa, Marina and Furuura. Just to make sure, do you all have your arsenals equipped?" All the girls revealed every tool necessary for mental-scarring pranks. Ibuki grinned with satisfaction. "Good. Now if you're all ready, let's go teach the boys a lesson! Move out!" The teams immediately, but quietly, left for their designated floors.

On the base floor, team 1 scattered towards two of the rooms where their targets were resting. Musashi and Yamato left for one room while Haurka, Shinobu and Su left for the other. With Musashi, the two entered the room where Kojiro and Kosaburo were resting. The two girls were giddy with excitement, finding great pleasure in getting back at their rivals. Both Kojiro and Kosaburo were sound asleep, which was perfect for the two girls.

"I've been waiting too long for this…" Musashi grinned excitedly.

Yamato tossed her teammate a knowing smirk. "You too huh? I've also been waiting to pull a prank like this on those two."

Musashi turned to Yamato, blinking in confusion. "…What are you talking about? I'm just glad I finally got some screen time in this story."

Yamato tripped and fell into a face-fault. "This is no time to start breaking the fourth wall!" She hissed.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Let's hurry up and do what we came to do."

"Right." Digging into their utility bags, the girls pulled out two jars of dye and crept onto the sleeping boys with evil looks on their faces.

With the other part of team 1, Shinobu, Haruka and Su found the room where Shuu, Leo and Kenji rested. However, of the three boys who were supposed to be resting, one of the beds was vacant. Shinobu, who was very nervous about the whole idea of pranking someone, sighed in relief.

Haruka took out a pen and paper and started scribbling some words. When she was done, she tapped on Shinobu's shoulder and flashed the paper at her. "Good thing Leo-Sempai isn't here, huh?" it read.

Shinobu blushed furiously at the implication of the message. "Ano…s-s-sh-shall we finish our pranks for tonight?" She whispered nervously, trying her best to avoid the topic. Haruka nodded and smiled with amusement. Poor Shinobu was so innocent. The two girls quickly did their job to Shuu, as did Su to Kenji.

One the second floor, team 2 was on route to the room where all four boys rested, namely Takeshi, Shigeru, Anji, and Ryuga. Ibuki, who was dying for revenge the most, rubbed her hands in anticipation. "Alright, let's get to work." She whispered. Motoko, who wasn't one for pranks, decided just carry the extra supplies Ibuki and Sakura wanted to bring. Ibuki took great pleasure in working on Takeshi, who was going to be in for a nasty surprise in the morning, as was Shigeru with Sakura. Duplica and Kitsune were left with Anji and Ryuga. Kitsune was enjoying her work of art on the lean and powerful Anji. With Duplica, she was having a hard time deciding on what to do with Ryuga. She didn't know anything about the guy, but from the way he looked and acted, she could easily tell he was one of the pretty boy types, always trying to perfect every detail of his being. It was apparent since the guy always carried a mirror and comb. Right then, Duplica thought of something especially cruel and immediately went along with the idea.

The last team was on the top floor, working on the last five boys. Hiroshi, Kenta and Keitaro slept in one room while Satoshi and Kabushi slept in another. In Keitaro's room, Naru, Furuura and Marina snuck inside. Naru, well used to Keitaro's habit of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, had a feeling Keitaro wasn't trying to peep, but probably got caught up and forced to do so. However, this didn't mean he was going to be forgiven that easily. "It's time for some mental-scarring…" Naru said wickedly as she performed her part of the prank on Keitaro.

Furuura knelt beside Hiroshi with her prank devices next to her. Instead of going along with her prank immediately, she took a moment to analyze Hiroshi's peaceful face as he slept. A tinge of redness colored her cheeks as she felt drawn to the boy's face. 'Hiroshi-kun…he looks so content…hopefully he's having good dreams…' She gently brushed the back of her fingers against Hiroshi's warm cheeks feeling at ease by the notion. She really didn't want to do a prank on him, though a part of her wanted to see the look on his face when he woke up. 'I won't do too much, just the traditional stuff…' Taking out a jar of paint, she dipped her fingertips in it and started decorating Hiroshi's face. She felt bad for doing it, but she made sure it was washable paint. After applying it, she cleaned off her hands and placed the contents back into her bag.

The auburn haired girl was about to leave when she noticed Hiroshi's samurai hakama slightly open, revealing a good portion of his chest. That was when her heart started thumping loudly. Ever since she started liking him, she wondered what it would be like to hear his heartbeat. It was a daring move, but she was dying to find out. Very slowly, she placed her hands on the floor to give herself leverage and leaned her ear on Hiroshi's chest. Her head hovered right above Hiroshi, trying not to touch him and cause him to wake up. Unfortunately for her, Hiroshi moved on of his arms to cover up his open chest, but Furuura was in the way and ended up being softly pressed onto his chest.

"Eep…!" Furuura gasped quietly, her entire body turning bright pink. She flapped one of her arms for help, hoping one of the girls would catch on. "Help…! Mayday…!" She whispered. The captured girl's heart started going overtime, almost to the point where she thought it would jump out of her chest. Luckily, Marina, who finished working on her project, caught on to Furuura's desperate cries for help and carefully moved Hiroshi's arm off of her. Furuura, who was in panic mode, quickly got off Hiroshi. She placed her hands on her chest while breathing hard, trying to calm her rapidly beating heart.

Marina, who knew exactly what Furuura was trying to do, giggled amusingly. "So, did you enjoy it?"

"Oh shut up." Furuura shot, thoroughly embarrassed. "Did you finish your prank?"

"See for yourself." Marina pointed to her boyfriend, displaying her art of pranking in all its glory.

Furuura chuckled. "Nice one." As she stood up and glanced back at Hiroshi, her cheeks flushed at the memory of what happened nearly a minute ago. "I-I-I'm going to go to bed. I'll see you guys when you're done." The girl hastily made her way out of the door, almost making a break for it.

Naru saw the entire scene and gawked in bewilderment. "Well, that was different."

"If I was in Furuura-chan's shoes, I would act the same way. It's not everyday you get embraced by someone you like out of the blue like that."

"Hmm…" Naru stole a glance at Keitaro and stared for a moment, deep in thought. "…Not gonna happen." She concluded.

"I bet you want it to happen, don't you?" Marina inquired slyly.

A blush appeared in Naru's cheeks as she crossed her arms and huffed. "Nope. I'm not into perverts."

Marina stifled a chuckle. "You two would look cute together."

Naru looked surprised at the thought, but immediately dismissed it. "You talk too much nonsense. I'm finished here, so I'm going. Coming along?"

"Sure, alright." The two girls left for their rooms for the night.

With the last two prankers, Kasumi and Ayane slipped into Satoshi and Kabushi's room. Since the two boys were the one who were caught doing the actual peeking, Kasumi and Ayane were especially surprised and incensed. This prank was probably going to be the best one, and they were going to make sure it pulled through, but first, they would check for any blackmail material. There were never too many of those.

Kasumi shuffled through Satoshi's belongings, looking for anything of use. Though she knew Satoshi for a good while, there were some things she was curious about, and this was the perfect chance. While looking, she stumbled upon a small, red book inside. It was Satoshi's journal. Jackpot. Her hand reached for the book and was about to open it when she hesitated. Wasn't this going just a bit too far? Sure, the plan was to find something embarrassing and get inside info, but to do this…it was just wrong and uncharacteristic of her.

Then again, what Satoshi did was VERY uncharacteristic.

It was then she was convinced. It was payback time!

"Alright Satoshi, let's see what makes you tick…" She opened the book directly to where the book mark was placed, reading up on Satoshi's current events. She made sure to save time by skimming the journal entry until she reached the good stuff.

_Dear Journal_

_6/2/2015_

_Mood: Livid, curious_

_I am SO going to kill my brother next chance I get! I still can't believe I let myself be convinced by him! Ugh, I hate it whenever he does that! And to think I now look like a pervert to everyone because of that! I'll be sure to get Takeshi too, since he's the one who started this mess! _

_Perhaps I should start from the beginning. Earlier today, Hiroshi convinced me and Shigeru to go along this trip to the Hinata Inn for the summer vacation. His reason was because he needed some help with confessing to Furuura. I mean, I'm okay with that. It's good that he found someone he really likes and wants to tell her. Good for him._

_However! I didn't want to start my vacation like **this**!_

_To start, we got to the Hinata Inn and met the employees there. They seemed pretty nice, though they all have…interesting personalities. Su especially scares me. I should mention she tried to eat Raigeki earlier._

…_Don't ask._

_Anyway, later on, we got to visit the onsen, which was quite nice. I was enjoying it a lot._

…_Until HE came!_

_Kabushi…that guy seriously ticks me off! Here I am trying to rest when he brings his Pokémon out (which ironically is Raigeki's evolved form and now rival) and the Raichu, known as Raijin, starts talking trash about my Raigeki! I swear, that Pokémon was as obnoxious as Kabushi, if not worse!_

_Moving on, things were going alright besides my rivaling incident when a certain, perverted somebody decided it was a good idea to go against Ibuki's rules of not peeking. Safe to say, most of the guys were insane enough to go with the plan. It was then that my own brother tried to get me to peek! At first, I refused, but he just started throwing these weird questions at me like "Do I think Kasumi looks pretty?" and stuff. Truthfully, I never thought about stuff like that. But…when Hiroshi was telling me how he wanted to confess to Furuura, it got me thinking a bit. What do I think about stuff like that? Also, this whole love thing, the only kind of love I've ever been used to was with my brother. I wonder what that's like, to fall in love and stuff. Honestly, I just think it's nothing but mushy stuff. My brother told me one time, that when you start thinking about love and stuff, first off, you got to know who you like and know how much you like about that person. The first person to come to mind was Kasumi. How do I feel about her? I mean, I know a lot about her, and I'm starting to get used to her. Also, she's really nice once you get to know her, and you can always count on her for backup. Hmm…I guess, when I comes to how I feel about Kasumi, I guess I like her._

Kasumi promptly closed the book. Her eyes were wide with bewilderment and her heart rate increased, along with her breathing. What was she so panicky about? So what if she just found out that Satoshi has some interest in her? So what if she was halfway between liking Satoshi and not liking Satoshi? This shouldn't change things between them, right?

…Right?

'This…this has to be a mistake. I need to find out more.' Her curiosity now peaked; she opened back to the page and continued.

…_But I'll admit, that girl got tons of issues. For one, she needs some serious anger management. I mean, I know I shouldn't stereotype people with red hair, but when it comes to her, I believe every word of how aggressive they are, and that mallet only adds to the problem. And also, isn't she, what, 16? You would think she'd be more developed by this stage. Seriously, I think I've seen asphalt with more sex appeal than her._

Kasumi closed the book again, this time more calmly. She glanced at Satoshi and sent him a dark look that made him shiver in his sleep.

That twerp was going down!

Putting back the book, Kasumi started the process that would ruin Satoshi's day.

Unfortunately for Kasumi, she neglected to read the last line of the journal after the lone string of insults. It read: "But…I guess those are the things I like about her most. Kasumi is Kasumi."

Meanwhile, Ayane had also been searching through Kabushi's belongings. Unlike Kasumi's situation, Ayane had to be very careful. If Kabushi found out she was looking through his private belongings, he would have a conniption. What made it difficult was how organized and observant Kabushi was. Being a ninja, Ayane knew how to hide her tracks. For the last minute, Ayane had found nothing useful for blackmail. She was about to give up when something caught her eye, something she had never noticed before. It was carefully placed so it would be hard to find, meaning Kabushi was trying to hide it. She picked it up and opened the first page, only to come to a ground-breaking discovery.

Kabushi had an art book.

Ayane had known Kabushi for a good while, yet she never knew Kabushi liked to draw. If anything, Kabushi always harshly criticized any form of art. Well surprise, surprise. 'Alright, let's see how good Kabu-kun is…' When she opened the first page of the art book, her jaw dropped in utter shock. She flipped from page to page, only to be more surprised with each page.

Kabushi's artwork was well past excellence. This was perfection at its finest.

She didn't know what was more surprising: That Kabushi liked to draw, or he could draw this good. It was unbelievable how he could keep such a thing a secret. As she flipped through the art book, she ended up in a section that read "My teammates". As the titled said, it was a picture of the members of Team Rocket. The first page was a picture of Ryuga. The said mage was jumping in the air as though he was about to leap out of the paper. He held the staff behind him, which had a swirl of bright, light blue energy swirling around it. The detail was very superb and illustrated Ryuga perfectly. Turning the page, it was a picture of Anji. The fighter was leaning against a tree, looking deep in thought. There were no details missing Ayane could point it and depicted Anji very well. In the next page, there was a picture of Kabushi, which obviously had more detail put into it than the first two. In the picture, Kabushi spread his legs apart and held onto the sheathed sword with one hand, and with the other hand, he positioned the arm to unsheathe it and dash in for the attack. He had a bold and cool expression which clearly told the opponent he was better than him and could take him down in a single blow.

"That's Kabushi alright…" Ayane snickered, noting the confident look in his face. After seeing the first three teammates, she knew hers had to be next. Considering how rough and distant Kabushi usually was to her, she figured it would be the least detailed picture, and possibly exaggerated to fit into some form of insult or humor. However, when she turned the page, she soon found out how wrong she was. It was a picture of her, but the detail of it was better than the first three.

This picture was different from the other teammates. Ayane was sitting at the base of a cherry blossom tree. One of her legs was stretched out while the other was bent so it could be used to prop her head up. Her arm was being used as a pillow for the head while she slept. Her white locks were being gently blown in the breeze. What caught Ayane's attention was how peaceful she looked while asleep. Did she really look like that while she slept? And also…had Kabushi been watching her the whole time? According to the picture, it seemed to be the case. A blush crawled up her cheeks at the thought. It was a lot of food for thought.

Keeping the picture in mind, she turned the page and found a picture which brought warmth to her heart. It was a picture of all four members of Team Rocket together. There were two rows. In the back row of the group picture, Anji and Ryuga stood back to back with their arms crossed. The front row was occupied by Kabushi and Ayane, who were kneeling in front. The surprising part was the expressions on everyone's face, especially Kabushi's.

They were all smiling warmly, and the title of the picture was "My friends".

This was gold. Ayane had never seen Kabushi smiled so warmly before. She glanced back and forth between the Kabushi in the picture and the one sleeping. Though no one would be able to guess at first, the smile seemed to fit Kabushi perfectly. She found herself smiling as well. That one smile made such a huge impression on her. It was then she made a silent vow to herself that she would try to catch him smiling the same way at least once. Unconsciously, she began burning the very image of Kabushi into her mind, making sure not to forget that look. The smile she saw made something spark within her, a wish. There was something she wished for, though she had no idea how or why it was brought up.

It was her wish to be the reason he smiled like that.

Ayane shook her head furiously. That was one thought she did not wish for. Romance wasn't her thing, and she certainly wasn't going to think thoughts that would lead to that point. Trying to forget her radical thoughts, she turned to page, only for her jaw to drop like a dead weight. It was another picture of herself, but this time, she had an oddly proportioned body with a big head. Her eyes were bright red and there were flames around her. There was a speech bubble coming from her mouth, displaying that she was yelling very strong obscenities. The title of it was what brought her to complete shock.

The title read "PMS Ayane".

'WHAT?' She thought incredulously. Any positive thoughts she had about Kabushi was instantly replaced with thoughts of revenge, and it was going to be sweet with what she had planned for him. Making sure to place the book exactly as she found it, she turned to face Kabushi, her eyes burning with silent fury.

Kabushi was going to pay for the picture big time!

Luckily for Kabushi, Ayane didn't turn to the next page, because in it showed Kabushi and the silhouette of a woman about to engage in a passionate kiss. It was titled "The Dream".

* * *

And that's Chapter 20. As you can see, there are some very interesting factors now popping up. I'm sorry for the lack of updates. I'll try to make up for it ASAP. Unfortunately, my college is pounding work at me, so it might be slower than expected. Don't let that get you down, because I will still continue these stories no matter the cost! Please review and let me hear your wondrous thoughts! See ya laterz! 


	21. Love Tajiri: Cavern chaos part 1

It's been awhile since I've updated, and I sincerely apologize. Trust me; the life of a college student/procrastinator is a lot tougher than you might think. Without further ado, let's continue on!

(For some reason, I can't add rulers, so this will have to do until otherwise)

Ibuki, who had awoken before everyone else, peeked at her wrist watch with an evil smirk. It was almost time. "Let's see…it should start in 5…4…3…2…1!" In the next instant, a wave of horrifying shrieks of terror resounded throughout the entire inn, followed by shouting and the sound of rapid movement. The chaos was now set in motion.

The girls of team 1, trying hard to hold back their snickers, saw the first wave storm towards them, fuming with anger. Kojiro and Kosaburo had their faces painted in such a horrible fashion it would make clowns cringe. Following them were Shuu, Leo and Kenji. Leo, since he wasn't inside the room at the time, managed to emerge unscathed, unlike everyone else. Shuu had a ton of eye shadow, eyeliner, and lipstick plastered on his face, making what used to be his good looks terrifying to look at. Kenji had strange markings all over his face and orange headband resembling either a strange cactus with a face or an eye insignia.

"Nice work with the make up boys…" Yamato turned her face and covered her mouth, failing miserably to cover up her laugh. Musashi just outright laughed in the boys' faces.

"This is no laughing matter! We're hideous!" Kosaburo cried with his gravelly sounding voice.

"My beautiful face…ruined! Ruined I tell you!" Kojiro sobbed pathetically on Kosaburo's shoulder.

"What's with these strange markings? Did someone place a curse on me?" Kenji referred to the odd marks all over his face.

"Those are the markings of—mmph!" Su's mouth was quickly covered by Shinobu's hand, who laughed the subject off nervously.

Leo eyed the targeted males worriedly. "I suppose I should count myself lucky that I wasn't anywhere nearby during this incident."

Moments later, another wave of screams echoed through the halls. Everyone in the first floor ran to the upper floor and stared in absolute shock. Kosaburo, Kojiro, Leo, Shuu and Kenji, with one look, were glad they weren't on the second floor. Both Takeshi and Shigeru were dressed with a pink, frilly dress, a fake halo, and fairy wings. Everyone witnessing the two sweat-dropped fiercely. It was a scary sight.

"Well…I knew you two liked girls…but never thought you would go as far as to dress like one. I shudder to think what your nights are like…" Leo released a small shudder at the thought.

"This is wrong on all levels…" Kojiro and Kosaburo shook their heads in shame.

"Kojiro, you have no right to criticize and you know it." Kenji reminded.

"It was only that one time! And the dress looked so comfortable too…" Kojiro admitted weakly.

"This is no time to joke around! This stuff is actually GLUED to us!" Shigeru emphasized urgently, tugging at his clothes to prove it. Takeshi ran to the bathroom, using all means necessary to remove the shameful clothes glued to his pajamas.

"I think it's a rather nice look." Sakura chuckled.

Shigeru tossed his girlfriend a glare. "You've been planning this entire time, haven't you?"

Sakura sweat-dropped in fear, not liking the look on Shigeru's face. "Eheheh…look at the time, I should start freshening up about now…" She speedily ran away, quickly pursued by Shigeru.

As soon as the two left, everyone saw Anji step backwards out of the room, a look of worry and fear in his eyes. "N-now now Ryu-kun, let's settle down and not do anything rash."

"NOT DO ANYTHING RASH? DO YOU NOT SEE THE PROBLEM?" Ryuga's voice roared violently, sending chills down everyone's spine. Though Anji's hair and clothes were dyed in bright rainbow colors, everyone, except the knowing Duplica, feared what made Ryuga so angry. However, their expressions changed once Ryuga stepped into view.

There was nothing out of the ordinary wrong with Ryuga.

"Alright, who is responsible for this tragedy?" There was a fierce fire in Ryuga's eyes. His eyes turned to Duplica, who was chuckling under her breath. The angered mage stormed up to Duplica and pointed accusingly at her. "You did this to me, didn't you?"

"Aw, come on. It ain't that bad…" Duplica reassured.

Ryuga exploded. "AIN'T THAT BAD? LOOK AT MY HAIR!"

Everyone looked and blinked. "Uh…Ryuga? Hasn't your hair always been like that?" Musashi pointed.

"Look closely you fool! My hair was never like this!" Ryuga pointed to his blue hair. Confusion was still in the air.

"Teehee, I made his hair more summery, like mine." Duplica pointed out.

"I'M A WINTER DAMN YOU! A BLOODY WINTER!" Ryuga collapsed onto the floor, a wave of despair going over him. "Do you not realize how many hours I've spent making every detail perfect?"

"I clocked it at 18 hours and 24 minutes." Anji picked up the sobbing mage and helped him to the bathroom. "Now, now, everything will be alright. Let's get you fixed up."

The girls of the Hinata Inn stared strangely at the scene unfolding before them. "This is going to be a very lively 6 days…" Motoko said with slight fear in her voice. The rest could only nod in agreement.

"Hey, is everything alright? We heard a lot of yelling." Kenta, Hiroshi and Keitaro ran from the third floor. The remaining men stared in surprised at the three boys while the girls chuckled madly. On each of their foreheads, the words "Super pervert" was written in ink. The three boys blinked in confusion. "What's so funny?"

There was a moment of silence. "…Nothing!" Everyone answered in unison.

"Alright, that's enough fun for the moment. Let's settle down." Ibuki ushered.

"What fun? Did something happen?" Satoshi asked, followed by Kabushi climbing down the stairs.

Everything stopped as a stunned silence permeated the air, followed by shocked stares. "Oh…my…god…" Everyone murmured simultaneously. Kasumi and Ayane pretended not to notice.

"What's with the looks? Is something behind us?" Kabushi glanced backwards, but saw nothing. Something struck him as odd once he faced everyone. "Why does my voice sound so…young?"

"Huh, now that you mention it, it feels as if everything suddenly got bigger. Maybe it's just me." Satoshi mentioned.

Shigeru, who recently returned to the second floor, nearly fell over in surprise. "Satoshi! What on earth happened to you?"

"Shigeru? Is something wrong with me?" Satoshi asked, feeling worried.

"I always thought your head was slightly off…but…" Kabushi whispered to himself.

"You…you two are…how should I put it?" Shigeru looked around for something to use. "Hmm…ah, take a look at this." He unsheathed his steel sword and flashed it at the two.

"Huh? It's just your sword. What's so bad that you have to show us?" Satoshi questioned.

"Uh…Satoshi…I think you should take a closer look…" Kabushi suggested, paling at the realization. Satoshi did as suggested and stared closely at the blade's reflection. This was when Satoshi noticed something very strange.

"Hey, those two kids in the reflection look like a younger version of me and Kabushi…….wait a second…I know what's going on now…!" Satoshi put on a look of surprise and pointed to the reflection. "That sword can show the past versions of ourselves!"

Everyone face-faulted. How slow was this kid?

"You idiot! Those kids ARE us! We've been shrunken to the size of little kids!" Kabushi yelled.

"WHAAAAAT? How can that be? How did this happen?" Satoshi panicked.

Kasumi and Ayane had slightly nervous looks while everyone else continued to stare in shock.

From the bathroom, Ryuga, with his hair in its normal shade, and Anji emerged to see the scene. Curious, the two approached Kabushi and Satoshi and knelt in front of them. "Kabu-kun? Is that really you?" Anji asked. Kabushi nodded regretfully. Anji remained stupefied, but Ryuga was trembling. Anji tossed Ryuga a worried look. "Uh…Ryu-kun, are you alright?"

At that moment, Ryuga lost it.

"OMGZ! TEH CUTENESS!" In a burst of emotions, Ryuga embraced the two minimized samurais tightly.

While everyone else had horrified looks on their faces, Ayane lowered her head in shame. "Oh yeah, I'd forgotten Ryu-kun was a fan of cute things, especially chibis. Whenever he sees them, he just explodes….like now." Anji could only slap his forehead in mortification, silently questioning whether suicide was the only way to reduce the shame now bestowed upon Team Rocket.

In a few seconds, Ryuga regained his sanity and glanced at everyone giving him bewildered stares. His face flushed with embarrassment as he dropped the two kid samurai's and rubbed the back of his head. "Ahaha….errr, sorry about that. I was just….umm….kinda…yeah…." Before Ryuga could continue, Anji started pushing him away.

"Let's go away before you bring us more shame." Anji suggested. Ayane picked up Kabushi before fleeing with the rest of her team.

Everyone was still in shock over Ryuga's little episode.

"…You know, of all the things I've seen, THAT was by far the scariest." Takeshi said, breaking the silence. Everyone agreed with a slow nod. He faced Leo. "I wonder…did the same thing happen to you at some point, since you're really…"

_SLAM!_

Takeshi's face was promptly implanted onto the wall, courtesy of Leo's fist. "Could we _please_ get on with the day?"

"I don't see why not, seeing as how much chaos already happened." Ibuki agreed, having a bad feeling about today's events…

Team Rocket stashed themselves in one of the guest rooms to get away from the rest of the group. As soon as they found the coast to be clear—

_SMACK!_

"OW!" Ryuga hissed, holding his head.

"How many times have we told you not to do that in public?" Anji reprimanded, punching the mage at the back of his head.

"I couldn't help it! I mean, look at him!" Ryuga pointed to the bite size version of Kabushi, who had a deep scowl on his face.

"I don't know who is responsible, but I'll be sure to give that person a painful death!" Clenching his fist, he had a murderous look in his eyes, which made Ayane reasonably nervous.

"Uh…Kabu-kun, as much as I love the look of murderous intent…you're just not cutting it at the moment. I mean, look at Ryu-kun, and you'll know." Anji pointed to the mage, who kept staring at Kabushi with a hypnotized expression.

Ryuga blinked after noticing the odd looks he was getting from his teammates. "…What? Did someone say something?"

"Dammit Ryuga! Stop staring at me like that! It makes me feel uncomfortable!" Kabushi demanded. With a sigh, he sat on the floor cross-legged, trying to calm himself down.

Anji glanced back and forth between Kabushi and Ayane, still trying to figure something out. After some consideration, he pulled Ryuga off to the side so Ayane and Kabushi couldn't hear them. "Hey, Ryu-kun, I've been thinking about something."

"Oh? Like what?" Ryuga asked.

"You know how we have our suspicions about those two being together and all? During the festival later today, we should try to get the answer out of Ayane."

"Uh…Anji-kun, do you remember the _last_ time we tried that? It still hurts where she threw that kunai!"

"Look, that's in the past. I really think we can pull this one off."

"Only if you're sure…" Ryuga, though having no idea what was going on through Anji's head, was hesitant about approaching Ayane about the subject. Ayane tended to act the same way as Kabushi, except she was more physical in her denials.

"What are you two being so secretive about?" Ayane asked, eyeing the two oddly.

"Nothing!" They answered quickly.

"Anyway…" Kabushi took a deep breath and sigh, wearing a sour look on his face. "You guys get to go to that festival today while I get to hang around Arcadia's number 1 idiot. The ratio of luck is greatly in your favor…"

"Well, did you even want to go to the festival?" Ayane asked.

"…No, but I would rather be there than be here with Satoshi, the king of morons. But…I can't help but wonder what madman would go so far as to chibify me and Satoshi, and dammit Ryuga, if you don't stop staring at me, I'm going to impale you and set you over a fire!" Kabushi flashed his katana, which had also shrunk with his size, at Ryuga, who laughed nervously.

"Hmmm…come to think of it, the only ones who were pranked were the guys, which makes me think the girls were the ones who pranked us." Anji pondered.

Ryuga's fists were clenched furiously at the memory. "And next chance I get, I'll send that hair-destroying wench to hell!"

"Hmmm…if the girls were the ones, then…" Kabushi glanced at Ayane, who was sweating nervously under his gaze. "Ayane…"

"U-umm…y-y-yes K-Kabu-kun?" Ayane answered uneasily.

"Do you know who did this to me and Satoshi? I would like to know who my victim will be."

If Ayane wasn't nervous before, she surely was now. She shook her head furiously. "N-n-no, no one."

"Huh. It looks like I'll have to see if he knows." Kabushi took out a Pokéball and summoned Raijin.

"Hey, Kabu-kun—whoa…" The Raichu blinked as he stared at Kabushi in shock. "What happened to you? You're all…cute and small!"

A vein appeared on Kabushi's head, frustrated with the whole ordeal. "Yes, I'm quite aware of that. Anyway, were you keeping watch last night?"

"Huh…? Oh…oh yeah, I was!" Raijin remembered.

Ayane paled. 'Dammit, I forgot Raijin keeps nightly watches on Kabushi sometimes! I should've remembered!'

Kabushi grinned with killing intent, hoping to catch the person responsible for the chaos. "Good, good, now, do you remember what they look like?"

Raijin tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Hmm…not a 100 percent, but, I do know there were two people who entered your room. It's kinda vague since I only caught a glimpse. However, I noticed that they were also going through your stuff…and saw _that_ thing."

"THEY DID?" Kabushi yelled, livid. He noticed Anji and Ryuga's confused stares and immediately recovered his composure. They could easily tell he was still angry due to the several veins appearing on his head. Ayane nearly fainted. She knew if Kabushi found out it was her, being beheaded would be the least of her worries. "Raijin…I understand that you were able to see this, and I'm grateful, but…if they were doing all of this…WHY DIDN'T YOU STOP THEM?"

Raijin looked up in reminiscence, and then shrugged. "Didn't feel like it."

"What kind of Pokémon are you that would let your partner be afflicted with…this?" Kabushi gestured his shrunken state with pure disgust.

"Honestly...I don't think it's that bad. It's pretty cute with a strong twist of funny in it."

"That's not the issue here!" Kabushi exasperated loudly.

Ayane sighed with relief. 'Good, they're getting off topic. Maybe Raijin will forget, and I'll be safe.'

"Anyway…" Anji stated, interrupting Kabushi and Raijin's argument. "Tell us Raijin, did you happen to get a good look at the intruder? Maybe something like class preference, or hair color—OW!" The Team Rocket fighter screeched as he felt Ayane's foot slam on top of his. "What was that for?"

"Oops, sorry, foot slipped." Ayane lied. She was mentally glaring daggers at Anji.

Something about what Anji said rung a bell in Raijin's head. "Hair color…I don't remember exactly, but maybe if I saw a glimpse of it again, I would remember…"

Ayane was sweating bullets. Once Raijin got a good look at her, he was bound to realize it was her. "U-u-umm, hey, I'm gonna go see Ibuki-sensei about the festival thing. I'll see you guys after!" She quickly left through the sliding door, soon followed by Anji and Ryuga. With a long sigh, Kabushi fell back and lay on the floor.

Kabushi had a feeling this was going to be a very long day.

With the rest of the group, Ayane, Anji, and Ryuga found Satoshi on the verge of tears as he talked to Ibuki. "But…But…I wanna go! It's not fair!"

"Sorry, but that's the rules. That'll teach you for peeking into a girl's bath. I must say that I'm surprised. You never struck me as the kind of person who would do that." Ibuki gave Satoshi a disappointed look.

"But…it's free food…free barbecue food…." All of the sudden, Satoshi burst into tears. "WAAAAH! I WANNA GO! I WANNA GO!" He wailed, flailing his arms in protest.

Ibuki groaned inwardly. Satoshi could be a real child sometimes. "Someone do something. He's giving me a headache…"

Shigeru, who was used to this, sighed and walked over to Satoshi. He knelt in front of Satoshi and turned his head so they could look eye to eye. "Satoshi. Don't make such a fuss. I promise to bring you plenty of food from the festival, but only if you calm down. I'll give you my big brother promise, okay?"

A moment passed before Satoshi felt convinced. "Okay. I'll be good."

Ryuga started twitching slightly as he watched the cute scene before him. However, the do-any-crazy-and-you-die look he got from Ayane and Anji kept him at bay.

Ibuki, sensing the atmosphere calm itself, decided to lighten the mood. "Alright, now if you're all ready, we shall get prepared for our festival?"

"Ibuki-sensei? What is the occasion of this festival? It sounds a bit elaborate for it to simply welcome us." Shuu mentioned. Some of the teams grew curious upon Shuu's comment.

"I'm glad you asked. I suppose I shall let Keitaro-san answer that question. He knows more about it than I do." Ibuki gave the notion for Keitaro to speak.

Keitaro nodded and stepped forward. "Today's festival will celebrate the week of the Trinity Moons."

"Trinity Moons?" Everyone asked in unison.

"Yes. You see, there are three phases of the moon has, some of which could only be viewed during this week. The most common phase, which we see all the time, is the Yellow Moon. When the Yellow Moon is full, is it said to give emotions an extra boost, which can be both a good and bad thing. The next phase is the Blue Moon, which can only be seen during this week. It is around this time the waves are calmest and perfect for romantic outings. And then, there's the Red Moon. This happens only once during the event. It is said that this moon is the most powerful of the trinity. The reason for this is because whenever the moon is red, romance levels are at its peak. I suppose you can look at it as a week dedicated to lovers everywhere."

"A week for lovers…" Hiroshi whispered to himself. He glanced at Furuura at the corner of his eye, who was flushing at the thought. One could only wonder what was on Furuura's mind.

Keitaro continued. "For reference, these moons have names given for what they represent. The Blue Moon is known as the Ocean Moon, the yellow being Romance Moon, and red the Lover's Moon. According to the schedule, today and tomorrow is the Romance Moon. The three days after is the Ocean Moon, and then it's the Lover's moon." There were resounding "oohs" and "ahhs" from the classmates, as well as murmurs. The news seemed to have sprung up some interest.

"I didn't think it was _that_ special of a week. I'm surprised." Ibuki said, also interested in the idea.

"Of course this week is special! It's all the more reason to party, party, party!" Mitsune cheered.

Satoshi was found sitting at a corner, feeling depressed. "Don't remind me…"

"Alright everyone! Hopefully you remembered to bring your festive clothing, because we're going to be wearing it to the Romance Moon festival! Please get ready immediately!" Ibuki instructed. Everyone scrambled to their rooms to put on their other clothes. It wasn't too long before the class and Hinata residents were properly dressed in their respective kimonos and yukatas. The clothes fitted them very well.

"Okay, if everyone's ready, let's get going!" Ibuki was about to leave when Kasumi called out to her.

"Hey, I was wondering, wouldn't we be leaving Satoshi and Kabushi all alone in here? Given that they're rivals, I'm not sure if that's the healthiest thing to do."

"Hm…you're right, Kasumi. I suppose one of us should stay to watch over them. If anything, we'll need someone who could take charge…"

"Hey, I know! Let's have Keitaro the invincible watch over them!" Su suggested.

The Arcadian students blinked. "Keitaro…the invincible?"

Keitaro sweat-dropped. "Come on Su, how many times have I told you I'm not invincible?"

"But you are invincible, and I'm gonna prove it with my ultimate-Keitaro-invincibility-buster cannon!" From out of nowhere, Su pulled out a complicated looking rocket launcher, which by the oversized look, showed the ability to easily pulverize anyone. On the side had a picture of Keitaro's face with an X on it. "And…FIRE!"

BOOM!

"AAARG!" Keitaro took the full brunt of the blast and was blown out of the front door and down the very long flight of stairs. Everyone's jaws dropped at the sudden action taken.

Su ran over to where Keitaro was blown to and pointed at him excitedly. "See? See? I told you he was invincible! He's still alive!"

The Arcadian students blanched in shock. It was harder to tell what was more shocking: Su's drastic behavior or Keitaro's endurance. Both were scary…

"Well. Su has certainly made a point. I suppose we shall let Keitaro watch over Satoshi and Kabushi. We certainly can't keep him near Su…" Ibuki decided, keeping in mind to stay a good few feet from the young foreign girl.

Everyone waved goodbye at the smoldering heap once known as Keitaro. "Have fun watching over the kids, Keitaro!" Narusegawa waved, heading out with the rest of the group.

Keitaro's hand reached weakly for everyone. "Don't…don't I have a say in this…?"

To say Keitaro was disheartened would be an understatement.

Inside the Hinata Inn, the disgruntled and bored mini Satoshi shuffled through the halls, releasing a sigh every now and then. Raigeki, walking along side of him, could feel Satoshi's misery. "Come on Satoshi-kun, cheer up! I'm sure the day will be over before you know it!"

"I just wish I can convince myself that. My poor barbequed food…so tasty, and yet so far away. Why must the finer things in life be so hard to get…?" He cried, feeling depressed again.

Raigeki, though astounded Satoshi could feel so strongly about pieces of meat, realized a clever way to cure Satoshi's depression. He let go of a dramatic sigh. "It's too bad. I really wanted to see you finally go through with it…"

Satoshi peered at the Pikachu curiously. "What do you mean?"

"Obviously your confession to Kasumi."

"WHAT?" Satoshi jumped, taken aback by the comment. "Why would I do something like that?"

"Oh, get a grip on yourself. Don't you realize how far this whole thing's gotten? Have you?" Raigeki interrogated, looking serious.

"But…the thing is…"

"For crying out loud Satoshi, it's been 21 chapters! 21! And during all of our zany episodes, you haven't even ONCE realized your feelings for Kasumi or done anything about it!"

"But Raigeki…"

"Don't you realize how many readers you've pissed off with your denseness? I'm surprised people are STILL reading this and haven't beaten you to death for wasting their time!"

"If you can give me a minute to explain…"

"Why don't you get it through your head already? Enough with the filler chapters, lame suspense, and cliché scenes! Get your brain into gear, stop waiting and pull out the big moves already!"

"RAIGEKI!" Satoshi finally shouted, annoyed with the mindless banter.

Raigeki stumbled back in surprise, but recovered a calm composure. "Yes?"

Satoshi looked around and sighed before continuing. "The thing is, I've been thinking about that whole thing for awhile now…"

"What, wasting precious chapters with cool action scenes and pointless humor?"

"Quit talking like that! You make it sound like this is some type of fiction or something! I'm talking about real life here!" Raigeki rolled his eyes at Satoshi, but continued to listen. Satoshi's gaze was cast downward. He looked serious. "The truth is…I just don't know anymore. I've been trying to determine how I feel about Kasumi, but it ain't as easy as you may think. Sure, I like Kasumi, but…I'm not sure if I just like her as a friend, as family, or something more. I've never experienced this before, but I'm afraid to look for answers. I feel as though if I see something I won't like, it might make me run away. I'm not trying to run away, but the whole thing is kind of scary. Do you have any idea how scary it feels to not know how much you care about that person, and that person has been your friend for months and months? Not only that, but…Kasumi's been hurt in the past. She said it plenty of times: She doesn't like guys. If I were in her shoes, I would probably feel the same way. Also, now that I've thought about it more, there's also the fact that she might not feel the same way about me. What if I went out of my way and said I like her as more than a friend, and then she reminds me that she doesn't like guys or me?"

"Uh…" Raigeki faltered, seeing Satoshi's point.

"Exactly. It would end pretty badly. And in the end, we wouldn't be able to see each other the same way, ever. Besides…I kinda like what we got going now. I feel we've become the best of friends. I'm not in a rush for those fuzzy feelings, but rather, I like being best buds with Kasumi just the same."

Raigeki stared at his partner in surprise. He didn't nearly think of those possibilities, which proves Satoshi's been putting in a lot of thought. "It…sounds like…you really care about Kasumi-chan…"

"Huh?"

"I mean, it doesn't have to be in a romantic way, but from what you told me, it seems like no matter how you look at it, you really like being with Kasumi, whether it be as friends or something more. To be honest, I've been thinking that getting together with someone romantically was the best kind of love there is. But…I think, you've somehow discovered one better than that." Raigeki looked Satoshi in the eye. "I think you've found a way to combine every love imaginable into one, pure form."

"Combining loves?"

"Yeah. I mean, there are so many kinds, but I think you found something better than all of that combined! Now I'm more convinced than ever! You just have to tell Kasumi how you honestly feel, regardless of what you think she might say!"

"But…what if…" Satoshi looked away, feeling unconfident.

"It's not like anything will change if you tell her you like her! You're just being honest! Also, it's not like you are asking her to marry you or anything. All you're saying is that you like her, and you like being her best friend!"

Satoshi stared long and hard at Raigeki. As he thought about it, Raigeki had a very good point. Would it really matter as long as he and Kasumi stay good friends? "Hmm…you're right. I'll probably feel better if I'm just honest, even if I'm not a 100 percent on how I feel."

"That's the spirit!"

"Thanks for the pep talk, Raigeki. I feel much better."

"No problem. What else am I here for?"

"To annoy and wake me up in the most irritating way possible?"

"Hey!"

There was a sigh at the end of the hallway, which captured the attention of Satoshi and Raigeki. "Are you two done? I'm already bored of this place. I don't wish to feel sick too." Kabushi shot.

Satoshi and Raigeki stood ready and glared at the red haired samurai with narrowed eyes. "What do you want?"

"Tch, that's simple." Kabushi walked until he was a few feet away from Satoshi. "…I want to mop the floor with you."

Satoshi's hand twitched, preparing to get his sword. "I won't hold back."

Kabushi did the same. "Either way, you will surely…huh?" He took a glance to the side, where the window was, and paled in horror. "S…Sa…Satoshi? L-l-look out that window…"

Satoshi huffed. "Nice try, but there's no way I'm falling for that trick!"

Raigeki looked at what Kabushi was referring to and started trembling with fear. "Uhh…I think you better listen to him this time. You REALLY need to see this…"

"Not you too Raigeki! What's so strange that you—" Satoshi's sentence was cut short as Kabushi gripped his head and turned it out the window. Satoshi's jaw dropped in astonishment.

It was a van.

The van was heading towards them.

…Yet everyone was on the second floor…

CRASH!

"WAAAAH!" Everyone leapt out of the way, avoiding the lethal collision with the flying van bulldozing into the hallway. Satoshi and Kabushi gaped in horror, noting the utter destruction of the hallway.

"W-well…t-that wasn't something you see everyday…" Raigeki quipped shakily, still trembling. He would never trust another van again.

Suddenly, the side door opened, and out emerged a man, who from Satoshi's viewpoint, looked like a walking corpse. The van driver was dressed in a simple red shirt with brown slacks, black shoes, and a white lab coat. His skin was sun tanned and he had short black hair. Strangely, the man smiled sheepishly as he waved at the two shrunken samurais. "Hey kids! Sorry about mess, my van slipped on a banana peel on the road."

The two rivals sweat-dropped fiercely. Mess was putting it mildly. Satoshi, who at the moment was loss for words, pointed at the man. "Uhh…excuse me sir, but do you realize that you're bleeding from the head? And it's not a small amount either…"

"Huh? Oh, this? Don't worry about it, it's just a scratch!" The care free man waved off. The 'scratch' was more like a deep gash in his head, which release a large amount of blood, which went over the man's face like a river.

Kabushi, more stunned than ever, decided to make another point. "You know your back is on fire, too right?"

The man glanced back, noting the bright flames emitting from his back. "Ah, well, nothing that a little patting won't fix!" Taking off his coat, he repeated patted on the flames, slowly putting it out.

There was a tired sigh behind the shell-shocked students, coming from Keitaro. "Seta-san, we just finished getting the inn repaired last week, please don't go crashing here when they're guest around."

"Wait a minute…this happens occasionally?" Kabushi asked in surprise.

Keitaro nodded. "Yeah, somewhere between 3 to 4 times a month. Everyone's used to it by now, though it certainly took us by surprise at first."

Satoshi, Kabushi and Raigeki paled. Just what kind of freaks where they staying with?

"Don't worry about the damage. Let the insurance take care of it. But that's a story for another day. Anyway, Keitaro, I really need your help! We've found a great ruin nearby, but I need your help!" Seta grabbed the young manager's hand as he pulled him towards the still-implanted van.

"Hey! Seta-san! Wait a minute, I can't leave these two here by themselves! They're guest!" Keitaro informed.

Seta stopped and considered it for a moment. "Hmm…you're right, they should come along with us."

"That's not what I said!" Keitaro cried.

"Come on! There's no time to lose!" Excited, Seta grabbed the two samurais and Pikachu before hauling off in his van, which miraculously landed on the ground.

Before driving off, Keitaro wanted to make sure he properly warned the two Arcadian students. "Um…you two might want to put on a seatbelt and hang on tight. Seta-san isn't exactly the safest driver…"

'Like that wasn't obvious…' The two thought dryly.

"Hey, Keitaro, how bad will this ride be?" Satoshi asked.

"Um…well…I'll put it like this…I just hope your life insurance have been updated…" Keitaro smiled sheepishly as Seta began to drive off.

The three victims in the back seat paled.

That couldn't be good news…

10 minutes later, the group made it to the ruins Seta mentioned. It resembled an underground mine, having cart tracks trailing into the interior. The van parked roughly, though not as horrifying as Seta's earlier entry into the Hinata Inn. Keitaro looked back the backseat riders, grinning apologetically. "Sorry if the driving seemed a little…rough. At least I could tell he was trying to be safe. After all, he only crashed through three buildings this time."

With the three wide eyed passengers, their blood ran cold as they blanched, all of the blood draining from their bodies. Kabushi's eyes were twitching madly while Satoshi had fainted dozens of times. Raigeki couldn't look any more terrified. "A-a-a-are we still alive…?" Raigeki asked dizzily, looking very freaked out.

"I can't tell anymore. I've lost count at how many times I've seen my life flash before my eyes. I shall never complain about walking for the rest of my life…" Kabushi answered, shaking violently.

Satoshi had no ability to speak, seeing that his soul was scared out of him long ago.

Seta looked back at the ghostly threesome worriedly. "Huh, you all seem to have cold feet. Now that I think about it, it might be better if you two went back to the inn. Oh, I know! I'll quickly drive you—" Before he could finish the sentence, Satoshi and Kabushi jumped out of the van, instantly recovering.

"N-n-n-n-no need for that! W-w-w-we'll be fine, honest!" Satoshi said quickly, not wanting to experience the ride again.

Seta looked unsure. "Are you positive? It's not a problem."

"T-t-that will not be necessary! L-l-l-let's go! We've got to work on those ruins!" Satoshi, carrying the fainted Raigeki, and Kabushi dashed into the ruins with ungodly speed, leaving Seta and Keitaro behind.

"My, we have some very eager future archaeologist on our hands." Seta laughed.

Keitaro sweat-dropped fiercely. "Actually…that was more like fear…"

Inside the dark caverns, the five explorers began their excavation. The darkness started getting thicker as they traversed deeper into the nexus of tunnels. Satoshi had the perfect solution to illuminate the darkness. "Raigeki, brighten up the hallway for us with Flash." Satoshi requested. Raigeki nodded in charged electrical energy from within his body, emanating a bright glow.

"Wow, that's pretty handy! Now we can see a lot more!" Seta said.

Kabushi grunted as he took out Raijin's Pokéball. "Raijin, show them a real Flash." After being summoned, Raijin did as instructed and released an intense shine that was easily twice the brightness as Raigeki's Flash attack. Keitaro and Seta almost had to cover their eyes to prevent being blinded.

Raigeki scoffed at the rivaling Pokémon. "Tch, show off." With the lighting problem solved, the group pushed onward.

Seta couldn't help but notice some tension in the group. If he dared to step in between the two children swordsmen, he would probably regret it. Keitaro had a discouraging look on his face, murmuring something about Narusegawa killing him later…which gave him an idea to relieve the depressing air.

After all, excavating is never fun unless everyone is having a good time.

"Hey guys, so what's going on in the world? Any new girlfriends lately?" Seta asked loudly, causing Keitaro and Satoshi to choke a little.

For some reason, Kabushi found the archaeologist's random talk of girls to remind him so much of Ryuga and Anji. And, if memory served correctly, that meant this was about to be a very annoying conversation. "Who cares?" He questioned back.

Seta wasn't going to get downed so easily. "Come on, I'm sure each of you has that special girl in mind, especially Keitaro-kun!"

"M-m-me?" Keitaro stuttered.

"Of course! Don't tell me you haven't hooked up with Narusegawa by now! It's been ages!" Seta patted Keitaro's back heartily, enjoying the already dissipating tension.

Keitaro choked at Seta's comment, blushing lightly at the thought. "S-S-Seta-san! It's not like that with us!"

"Now, now, no need to be shy! Mind you, she's quite the catch! You better hurry before someone else gets her!"

"Ah…but I…what I mean is…we're not…" Keitaro fumbled over his words, feeling pinned down by Seta's words. After a pause, Keitaro's shoulders slumped. "I just don't know…"

Kabushi decided to intervene at this point, growing irritated by Keitaro's shyness. "Just get over yourself already. Do you or do you not like Narusegawa?"

"I…I don't know. I mean, kinda do, but at the same time, I'm not sure."

"Idiot, don't you know yourself in the least? How could you not know how you feel about something as simple as a woman? It's not a complex question. You either like someone or you don't. If you go on and act like you're not sure, then all you are doing is denying yourself, and if you have to resort to lying to make yourself feel better, not only are you the biggest moron in the world, but you can't even call yourself a man. Why don't you stand up for yourself and be honest for once in your miserable life?"

Keitaro wanted to deny Kabushi's statement, but hesitated once he started thinking about it. He couldn't think of anything to say in his defense. Was he really just denying his true feelings for Narusegawa? Maybe Kabushi was right, and he was just lying to himself to prevent possible embarrassment.

Kabushi caught Seta's attention, who replaced his surprised look with a knowing one. "Something tells me you know that from experience. You're quite mature for your age."

"I'm 16. I'm supposed to know this kind of stuff by now." Kabushi stated flatly. Even though he spoke the truth, given he had recently taken the shape of a 6 year old version of himself, it didn't look to convincing to Seta.

Seta only laughed. "16 you say? Well, you sure act like one, just like my daughter, Sarah." He walked up to Kabushi and patted on his head playfully. "I know you want to grow up, but that's something you can't rush."

"Listen you old coot, I'm really 16 years old. Don't take the fact I'm this short into account."

"Hehe, whatever you say!" With that, Seta walked ahead of the group, Keitaro walking next to him. Satoshi stole a glance at Kabushi, remembering what he said earlier. He had his doubts, but also, something told him that Kabushi's words weren't totally true. He could relate though.

"Hey, Kabushi. About what you said earlier, I—ACK!" Satoshi tripped over something on the ground and fell flat on his face.

"Satoshi! Are you alright?" Raigeki asked. As Kabushi, Keitaro and Seta peered over the fallen child, the Pikachu noticed the object Satoshi tripped over. "Hm? What's this thing?" He pointed to a small, oval object with octagon patterns and grey, steel coating. It was embedded into the ground.

"Hey, smart guy, look at this." Kabushi directed Seta to the object Raigeki pointed to. As Satoshi got up, he grew curious.

"Hmm…this could be an excellent find! Let's dig it up!" Seta pulled out the shovel he brought with him to dig.

"Err…should you really dig that up? It could be dangerous…" Satoshi inquired suspiciously.

"Nonsense! It's perfectly fine!" Before anyone else could comment, Seta plunged the shovel into the earth and scooped up the object. The unknown item, as now could be seen, had a hole on the front, back, and two on each side. From the shape, it looked as though it was…

"…It's a turtle?" Everyone pondered. Before they could start questioning its existence, a mechanized head popped out suddenly, scaring everyone. Startled, Seta dropped the shovel and stepped back. Surprisingly, the metal turtle sprouted boosters from its back and started flying. The four excavators ducked to avoid the flying turtle.

"Can someone tell me why a turtle is flying?" Kabushi took out his minimized katana and start swiping at the turtle.

"I don't know, but it'll be cool if it had weapons!" Just as Satoshi said the comment, the holes where the turtle's arms would be had guns appear and shoot at the group. They sprinted into a run to escape the gun totting, mechanized flying turtle. "You know what else would be cool? If there were more of them!"

SLASH!

Kabushi managed to cut the turtle in half. Just as he did, the ground started vibrating violently. It wasn't too long until a swarm of the turtles emerged from the ground and attacked them. "Dammit Satoshi! Stop jinxing us!" Kabushi growled, swiping at Satoshi with his sword.

"I wasn't trying to do that! I swear!" Satoshi defended.

"Never mind, just keep running!" Kabushi snapped, deflecting gun shots with his sword. Raigeki and Raijin shot a string of Thunderbolt attacks at the flying menaces, but their magnetic coating absorbed the electricity and shot it back. The two rodents resorted to dodging the attacks rather than waste electricity.

"Hey everyone, look ahead!" Keitaro pointed to an opening in the tunnel. Up ahead was another path that led deeper into the cave. Unfortunately, the path was broken and separating the path was a bottomless pit.

"Everyone, make sure to long jump over the pit! If we do, I'm sure we can make it across. Whatever you do, do not fall!"

"Okay!" Satoshi and Kabushi nodded and notion for Raigeki and Raijin to do the same. Once the group reached the chasm, they took the plunge. Keitaro and Seta made the first leap. They managed to make it with no problems. Next were Raijin and Raigeki, who were faster than their partners. Using their light bodies and quick agility, they easily made it across.

"Alright, now give it all you got!" Seta cheered on.

"Jumping? This will be easy!" Kabushi grinned victoriously. After his years of training exercises, making a simple jump would be cake. He was about to make the running jump when Satoshi stopped him.

"Wait a minute! I don't think this is such a good idea!" Satoshi warned.

"Are you mad? We got a freaking army of super turtles flying at us, yet you want to start doubting yourself now? Come on before you get us killed!" Kabushi grabbed Satoshi's wrist and took a few steps back.

"But you don't understand. If we jump, we'll—"

"Enough with your excuses! No one is allowed to kill you except for me! Now shut up and jump!"

"No, wait!" It was too late because Kabushi jumped with all his might, bringing Satoshi along with him.

As the two were flying in the air, Kabushi immediately noticed something strange. They had been in the air for a few seconds, yet they didn't land. As a matter of fact, it would seem as though the chasm was longer than he predicted. He extended his hand to grab the ledge.

Only to missed by mere inches.

And that's when Kabushi finally realized what Satoshi was trying to tell him. They were too short.

"DAAAAAMMMIIIIIIITTTT!" Kabushi's voice echoed as he and Satoshi fell into the endless abyss…

With Ibuki's group, everything was set up for the Romance Moon festival. The area was filled with cherry blossom trees, smooth grass, festive lights hanging on a long line, and plenty of food. It was a fun time for everyone to enjoy, as they either played games or had special shows for the Arcadian student's entertainment.

Of course, there were those with their own sense of entertainment, namely Ryuga and Anji. Currently, they were conjuring plans on how to find out Ayane's feelings for Kabushi. They were in the middle of discussing their plans when the blue haired ninja from Team Tenshi approached them. "Hey guys! Whatcha doing?" Duplica asked cheerfully, sipping on her drink.

Anji turned to face Duplica. "Huh? Oh, hey, you're that ninja with Hiroshi's team, right? Don't mind us. We were just talking about—"

Ryuga, upon seeing Anji converse with Duplica, instantly stepped in between them. "Anji-kun! What are you doing?"

Anji blinked in confusion. "I'm talking to Duplica…" He answered flatly.

"Don't speak to that beauty-wrecking woman! She's the enemy!" Ryuga proceeded to point at Duplica, who was fuming at the comment.

"Who are you calling a—"

"Enemy!" Ryuga yelled, interrupting the girl.

"What are you—"

"Enemy!"

Duplica's brow was twitching in anger. "If you say that one more—"

"ENEMY!"

POW!

Both Anji and Duplica slammed Ryuga over the head, causing the mage to fall face first into the ground. Anji released an aggravated groan. "Please, just ignore him. He's still sore over that little prank you pulled on him."

Duplica shrugged. "I had a feeling it was something like that. Anyway, what were you two talking about earlier?"

"You know our two teammates, Kabushi and Ayane? We suspect that something's going on between them, and for the last few days, we've been trying to find out. Got any ideas?"

"Hmm…" Duplica tapped on her chin while looking up thoughtfully. After a minute of thinking, an idea came to her. "I'll help you guys out. So, you want to know how Ayane feels about Kabushi, right?"

"Right."

Duplica nodded. "Alright. Just leave everything to me, alright?"

"Sure. We'll leave it up to you. Just be subtle about it, and make sure Ayane doesn't know that it's us asking about it."

"Okay." Duplica turned around in time to see Ayane passing by. She walked up to the ninja, neglecting the fact Anji and the recovering Ryuga was only a few feet away. "Hey Ayane, could I ask you something?"

"Shoot."

"How do you feel about Kabushi? Do you like him?"

Ayane raised an eyebrow at the still-nearby Anji and Ryuga, who had pale looks on their faces. "Did anyone get you to ask me that question?"

"Anji and Ryuga wanted to know, so they asked me to ask you."

"Oh. Well, to be honest, he's okay, but I don't like him like that. He's a teammate, and that's where I plan to leave it."

"Okay. Thanks for your time." She turned around and flashed a thumbs up at the two Team Rocket members, who blanched considerably. "Huh? Is something the matter?" She asked, walking towards them. Though Duplica couldn't see, Ayane made a stabbing motion at her teammates with her kunai, promising a painful death.

With one look at each other, Ryuga and Anji retreated swiftly, leaving Duplica confused.

With Shigeru, something had been on his mind ever since he arrived at the Hinata inn. The entire trip seemed all too convenient. Ibuki was not only a teacher, but a top class elite guard of the school. If anything, she had an idea of what was going on.

However, a few minutes later, his jaw dropped like dead weights at the sight before him.

Mitsune, Sakura and Ibuki stood on top of a table, dancing in what had to be the most horrifying fashion in the world. They were laughing and stumbling over each other. The fact they each had a cup in their hand clearly stated one thing.

They were drunk.

"Hey everybody! We're going to have a fan service contest and you guys are the judges! Don't be shy!" Ibuki cheered in a drunken stupor.

"Just what is in those drinks?" Shigeru cried. The situation grew even worse once he realized the resounding wolf whistles coming from behind him.

"Alright! I'll be the bestest judge ever!" Takeshi proclaimed, raising his cup in the air. The members of Team Isuka joined Takeshi in the judging section.

"Let's get this show on the road!" Su shouted. She, along with Musashi, Yamato and Marina shot their fist in the air.

"Hey…wait a minute…" Shigeru walked over to the punch bowls and took a small sip of the contents. He blanched once he realized what was in the drinks.

Sake was poured into all the drinks.

"Dammit, this is bad! Who else is drun—what the hell?" Shigeru stared in shock as Sakura, Ibuki and Mitsune started taking of their clothes little by little, still dancing horridly. In a panic, the Class S samurai lunged and attempt to wrestle their clothes back on, only to make the situation worse.

"Hey, no guys allowed!" Takeshi yelled.

"Dammit, I'm not trying to be in it! I'm trying to stop it!

"Oh, I know! I bet he wants to dance with us! Alright, let's boogey!" Sakura yelled. The three girls started bumping Shigeru back and forth between them, making the helpless samurai dizzy and strangely satisfied. It took a minute before he escaped the dance of the drunks.

"Good grief…is there anyone who hasn't succumbed to the sake?" Shigeru noticed that Ibuki somehow disappeared from the out-of-their-minds threesome and was currently sitting in front of Haruka, Shuu, Hiroshi, Furuura, Shinobu, and Leo. It looked calm enough, and Ibuki seemed to be telling a story. Hoping to get away from the current group of nut jobs, he walked and peered over the conversation. He couldn't help but wonder why everyone listening to Ibuki had such red faces…

"…But the thing you have to remember is that if you're a guy, you should do—and—and also—that way, the woman will be at your mercy. And girls, you don't want to give them too much too quickly so you should—and—and finish off with—and that's how men and women should REALLY communicate!" Ibuki finished. There was a wave of oohs and ahhs from the 'students'.

Shigeru's eyes couldn't be any wider. "IBUKI-SENSEI! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TEACHING THEM?"

"Shush! This is very educational!" Leo hushed, making sure to pay close attention to Ibuki's speech about life facts.

"What the hell? Not you too!" Shigeru gasped. This day was already starting to get out of hand.

"Huh? Hey, Shigeru-kun! Why don't you come here and help me let these growing boys and girls know about the facts of life? Tell us about your wild times with Sakura-chan!" Ibuki yelled loudly. The 'students' all glanced at Shigeru with curious intent.

Shigeru's face was overcome with embarrassment. "T-t-t-t-t-that's not anyone's business! Stop telling them such weird things!"

"Aw, don't be shy! It's for educational purposes!

"Yeah, educational! Educate us!" Hiroshi and Furuura pleaded. The other three nodded enthusiastically.

"That's not the education you guys should be learning!" Shigeru shouted. He was about to say more when he felt something drip on his nose. Looking up, he noticed dark clouds gathering in the sky.

It was going to rain.

Thank goodness.

"Alright people, listen up! It's gonna start raining soon, so everyone pack up and let's return to the inn!" Ibuki shouted, catching everyone's attention. The fact she was drunk seconds ago seemed non-existent.

Shigeru was amazed. "Ibuki-sensei…where you really drunk earlier…?" He asked.

Ibuki gave him a long stare. "…What are you talking about? I never drink!"

"You lair!" He accused, pointing at the teacher.

"Sorry to interrupt, but we should hurry. There have been reports of heavy rainfall coming." Motoko warned, picking up Kasumi and Narusegawa, who had fallen unconscious due to influence.

"That's pretty strange…" As everyone started packing up the supplies, Ibuki glanced at the quickly approaching clouds. "It was clear a moment ago. Is this…a sign?"

Back in the ruins, Satoshi slowly opened his eyes, regaining consciousness. The last thing he remembered was falling into a bottomless pit. He was grateful for still being alive, but couldn't help wonder why he had such a huge headache.

"It's about time you woke up! I've been trying to wake you up for over a half hour!" Kabushi yelled, sounding irritated.

Satoshi sighed as he started standing up. It was now obvious why he had his headache. He couldn't help but wonder why Kabushi's voice sounded so…distant. "Huh? Kabushi?" He looked around, but didn't see the red haired rival. "Hey, where are you?"

"Up here moron!"

"Wha?" looking up, Satoshi saw Kabushi hung on the wall by his shirt, which was stuck onto a sharp rock. It was amusing to watch Kabushi pout and thrash while being hung. Satoshi's cheeks started to puff as though he was holding his breath.

Kabushi scowled once he saw the look on Satoshi's face. "What's with you?"

All of the sudden… "PFFT! HAHAHAHA! YOU LOOK LIKE A CHRISTMAS ORNAMENT!" Satoshi started rolling on the ground in laughter.

Kabushi's eyes glared furiously. "DAMMIT, THIS IS NOT FUNNY! JUST GET ME DOWN RIGHT THIS INSTANT!"

It took a moment for Satoshi to recover, or at least have his laughter reduced to snorts. "Alright, I'll get you down…" Satoshi stood back to prepared a wind attack when he stopped suddenly. "Hey…wait a minute…why don't you just use your own wind attacks?" There was a stunned silence. Kabushi glanced away, leaving a long pause. "…Hold up…don't tell me you don't know any wind attacks."

"…No, I don't…" Kabushi admitted.

There was another pause, until… "HAHAHAHA! YOU'RE A TOTAL IDIOT!" Satoshi insulted.

Kabushi immediately glowered at the laughing samurai. "I DON'T WANT TO HEAR THAT FROM A DUMBASS LIKE YOU!"

Satoshi instantly grew serious. "You know, I'm getting sick and tired of everyone calling me an idiot. Right now, I have half a mind to just leave you hanging."

"Half a mind is exactly what you got! Stop with the crap and get me down!"

Satoshi took a moment to think about, and then thought of a response. "Sure, but only under one of my three conditions!"

"Are you out of your mind? Stop acting so full of yourself!"

"So…I guess you won't do any of my conditions."

"Never!"

Satoshi sighed. "Fine…" He slowly turned around and started walking away.

"…W-WAIT!" Kabushi yelled suddenly. "…What are the three conditions…?"

"Glad you asked!" Satoshi beamed, grinning widely. This was going to be good. "Condition 1 – Say "Please get me down!" and it has to be with a nice tone."

"HELL NO!" Kabushi yelled.

Ignoring Kabushi, Satoshi went on. "Condition 2 – Apologize for every rotten thing you've said!"

"You're insane." Kabushi said flatly. Given what the first two conditions were, he would most likely go for three, which couldn't possibly be worse than the first two.

"And finally, condition 3 – Let's be good friends!" Satoshi finished cheerily.

Kabushi paled in disgust. '…Alright, so that means it's either one or two…' He thought miserably. Today would mark the most humiliating moment to date.

"Come on, don't be shy."

Kabushi growled under his breath. Why did it have to be Satoshi of all people to torment him like this? He looked around closely, making sure no one was watching him be humiliated. "…Fine, I'll choose a condition. BUT! If you say a word of this outside this cave, I'll wring your idiotic little neck!"

"I promise!" Satoshi sang, giving his rival the thumbs up.

Kabushi took in a deep breath and exhaled, calming his raging nerves. He was going to make sure to put Satoshi at the top of his blacklist. "P…p-please…please get me d—huh?" The suspended samurai felt his collar ripping.

This wasn't going to end well.

RIP!

"AAAH!" Kabushi yelled as he started to fall.

Satoshi gasped with a start. Kabushi was set high above the ground. The height was enough for him to get seriously injured, or even die. "Aero Strike!" With a swipe of his sword, Satoshi sent a small cyclone of wind to cushion Kabushi's fall. "Hey, are you alright?"

"Yeah, just taken by surprise. However, that's besides the point…" Storming up to Satoshi, Kabushi glared murderously. "How dare you try to blackmail me like that? I should kill you for trying to shame me like that!"

"From what I've seen, you do that just fine by yourself…" Satoshi mumbled under his breath.

Hearing the comment, Kabushi unsheathed his sword and pointed it at Satoshi. "I don't take kindly to insults. The next one I hear from you will be your last…" Kabushi spoke coldly, narrowing his eyes.

Satoshi's hand slowly went for his own blade. "…Was that a challenge, Kabushi?" Satoshi's lips curled into a small smirk.

Kabushi smiled the same. "Take it as you like. Either way, you'll always lose to me!"

SLASH!

The two skilled samurai's sliced the two mechanical turtles that were behind their rival's back, destroying them. "I don't think it's a good idea to stick around for too long. I suggest we postpone our battle for now. Agreed?" Kabushi asked, glanced back at Satoshi.

"Agreed. I don't know how to navigate through caves that well, so I'll have to call Zohl for help." Satoshi fiddled his pockets for Zohl's Pokéball. A few seconds past, and he had yet to find it. "Huh? Where did my Pokéball go?"

"…Perhaps I should've warned you about that earlier. When we fell off the cliff, I think our Pokéballs fell off. Trust me, if I had my Pokéball with me, I wouldn't have needed your help getting down."

"Oh. I see. Let's try to find everyone." Satoshi immediately grew serious as he started off in a direction. Kabushi shrugged, but followed.

Far from Satoshi and Kabushi's location, two Pokéballs lay motionless on the ground. One of the sentry mecha turtles flying around noticed the two balls and approached them. Noting the curiosity-provoking button, the metal creature pressed it. Suddenly, the ball cracked open and summoned the creature inside, causing the creature to fly away with alarm.

"Ugh…where is this place?" Zohl questioned, glancing around at the dark and rocky area. Looking down, he saw another Pokéball next to him. Being he is separated from his partner, might as well discover who his companion may be. Pressing on the button with his bone club, a ground-type Pokémon appeared before him. Her back had a thick trail of brown spikes. Her skin was tan and stomach white. The Sandslash turned around to notice Zohl staring curiously at her. There was a moment of silence…

"AAAH! A MOLESTER!" The girl cried.

The Marowak face-faulted in surprised. He's been called many things before, especially by Raigeki, but that was taking it a step too far. "I am NOT a molester! We've been separated from our partners, so I thought it might be a good idea if we could search for them together."

"Oh…I see…" Another period of silence… "AAAH! A THIEVING MOLESTER!"

"WILL YOU STOP CALLING ME THAT?" Zohl exasperated loudly. "Look, I'm not going to do anything to you. All I'm trying to do is look for my partner."

"Okay bonehead!" The Sandslash piped.

A vein appeared on Zohl's forehead, twitching aggravated. "I'm not a bonehead. My name is Zohl. What is your name?"

"It's Shizuka! Nice to meet you!" Shizuka greeted cheerfully.

"Likewise. Let's start excavating and find our comrades."

"You got it bonehead!"

Zohl gritted his teeth, but only sighed rather than say anything insulting to the Sandslash. Walking ahead, Shizuka followed obediently.

While the two walked, Zohl couldn't help but grow slightly annoyed with his female companion. Whether it was because she was constantly talking about nothing, or the fact she always referred to him as bonehead, he felt his patience wear thin. It also didn't help that the girl was jumpy and always clung onto him at the smallest sound, accidentally pricking him with her claws and spines. He lost count on the amount of holes puncture into his skin.

He was moments from snapping at the motor-mouthed Pokémon when he decided to take the calmer approach first. "Shizuka, may I ask why you are talking so much? No offense, but it is getting on my nerves." While the last comment was an understatement, he was trying very hard to be polite about it.

Shizuka's ears dropped guiltily. "Oh…I'm sorry. When I get nervous or anxious, I tend to talk a lot to calm myself and take my mind off whatever's bothering me. I-I'll stop talking if I'm bothering you…"

Zohl sighed. How he hated to be the nice guy. "No, no, you don't have to stop talking. If it makes you feel better, you may continue talking."

Shizuka was taken by surprise. She honestly felt she was getting on Zohl's nerves, but the Marowak was trying to be considerate to her feelings. "Um…t-thank you, bo—Zohl."

Zohl smiled a little. It felt great to hear his name rather than being called bonehead for the rest of his cave ventures. "It's not necessary to thank me."

"But it is! You're the first Pokémon to ever be that considerate of me! It makes me happy to know that someone out there cares about how I feel!"

Zohl flushed meekly, feeling embarrassed. "It's not that big of a deal."

Shizuka calmed down and smiled at Zohl. "But it is to me. I was actually the weakest Sandslash in my clan, so I was looked down on a lot. Even when I'm in Kabushi's group, I'm still the weakest Pokémon. I don't have a lot of respect or good points about myself, and even though I try really hard to get strong, I always forget something or mess up really bad." She stopped walking and gazed at the ground in front of her. "It seems like no matter how much I try, I always lag behind everyone else. I want to be strong and get people's respect. But…I don't know where to start…or even what my good points are. Maybe I don't have any, and my dream is just that, a dream and nothing more…"

Zohl had listened intently to Shizuka's story. He knew how it felt to be the weakest link. He stepped in front of Shizuka, catching her attention. "Shizuka, listen. Not every strength is clear to see at first. Power isn't something always measured in battle. As a matter of fact, I can see where one of your strong points very well. It is here." He poked at the middle of Shizuka's chest. "In your heart is a power with infinite potential. All you need to do is unlock it. It won't be easy, but I have a feeling that you can do it. Don't stop trying. That's what I feel is the key to unlocking your strength."

Staring blankly at Zohl, Shizuka still couldn't believe what had just transpired. Zohl was encouraging her to keep trying her best. She yearned to hear such encouraging words all her life, yet Zohl said it perfectly. "…You're nice."

"Huh? Ah…well…." Zohl whipped around, trying to keep a cool posture, though his face was reddening under his bone helmet. "A-anyway, let's press on and continue our search."

"You got it, Zohl-sempai!" Shizuka piped.

Stopping in mid-step, Zohl could've sworn he misheard Shizuka. "Did…you just call me –sempai?"

"Yep! Lead the way, Zohl-sempai!"

"…Oh. Alright then." Zohl was about to start walking when Shizuka's hand grasp onto his, startling him.

"U-u-umm…Zohl-sempai? C-c-could I please h-hold your hand? It would make me feel less nervous…" Shizuka blushed timidly.

Zohl tensed immediately, blushing hard. He didn't expect something so out of the blue. He slowly turned his head to see Shizuka staring at him with what had to be the most adorable puppy dog eyes he had ever seen. 'No! Anything but the puppy dog eyes!' He turned away and closed his eyes, only to crack an eye open and look back. Shizuka was still staring at him. Zohl sighed. That was a battle he was never going to win. "Fine." Tightening his hold, he guided the Sandslash into the depths of the ruins.

Back at the Hinata Inn, everyone lay about either lazily or in suffering from their major hangover. Shigeru, who had taken in the most stress, was purely exhausted and asleep. Though everyone was relaxed one way or another, two girls remained restless.

Ayane had been rummaging in Kabushi's belongings again, looking for the marvelous collection of arts. After finding Kabushi absent, she immediately wanted to look again, hoping to see the rest of the collection. Once again, she passed by the 'glorious' picture of herself swearing obscenities. At least she felt better about casting the Chibify spell on him. Turning the next page, she was witness to the picture known as "The Dream". It tugged hard at her curiosity. Who was the woman Kabushi was cradling into the kiss? Kabushi's expression felt so content and warm as his hands clasped over the woman's hand as he embraced her from behind. The girl looked as though she melted at his touch, resting against his chest and smiling in bliss. For some reason, Ayane found the woman on the picture to be vaguely familiar. From the title of the artwork, it was easy to tell it somehow related to a dream, most likely Kabushi's. She couldn't help but feel sappy over the picture. It really made her want to experience it. Alas, she didn't want to go that route. Too troublesome. She was about to turn the page when—

"Ayane?" A voice called from behind.

"I'M INNOCENT!" Ayane yelled in surprise, jumping out of her skin. She regained her composure once she realized it was just Kasumi and Narusegawa. She would've been dead if it was Kabushi. "Oh…I mean, what's up?"

"Me and Kasumi-san can't seem to find Keitaro, Satoshi and Kabushi anywhere. We were wondering if you had seen any of them." Narusegawa answered, trying to forget Ayane's outburst.

"Oh…no, I haven't. You haven't seen them anywhere?" Ayane was surprised. Kabushi sometimes went out by himself, but for both Satoshi, his rival, and Keitaro the manager to leave was slightly troubling. "Did they leave any messages?"

"Actually, there's one message. It's down the hall." Narusegawa pointed to the wreckage that used to be a hallway.

Ayane's jaw dropped. She hadn't noticed it since she never crossed that hallway today. She was wondering where the draft was coming from. "So…just what does that message mean exactly?"

"It means Seta came over. If that's the case, then that means they are with him." Narusegawa sighed. "I should've known something would happen with Keitaro around…"

"Sounds like he's a handful." Kasumi chuckled.

"You don't know the half of it! Not only is he a pervert, but he can never do anything right! He's got to be the most troubling guy in the world!"

Kasumi patted on Narusegawa's shoulder. "Hate to break it to ya, but Satoshi's got Keitaro beat. Satoshi, to put it lightly, is probably the biggest idiot in the world. His sense of direction has a world record for being the worst. And don't even get me started on his eating habits…"

"Good grief! If those two are as bad as you two claim, they could cause a lot of havoc if left alone for too long." Ayane commented.

The two girls began to reminisce their experiences with the boys they knew. From it, they could conclude two things:

1 – Keitaro will somehow get himself killed.

2 – Satoshi will somehow get everyone killed.

Kasumi turned to Narusegawa. "…I'm ready when you are."

"I'll lead the way." The long haired brunette said, leading Kasumi out the room.

Ayane sighed with relief. "Good, they're gone." She was about to go back to looking through Kabushi's art book when a hand held fast onto her shoulder. "I'M TOO YOUNG TO DIE!" Ayane yelped, being scared out of her wits.

"Stop screaming and let's go! Kabushi's with them as well." Kasumi ushered, dragging the ninja with haste.

"No, wait, you don't understand, I have to—AH!" Ayane couldn't break out of Kasumi's grip as she was dragged out of the room, dropping Kabushi's artwork.

A minute passed by when Ryuga and Anji had entered the room looking for Kabushi, only to find a book with Kabushi's name on the floor…

Hours passed for the two samurais traveling through the cave. Along the way, they had encountered several groups of robot turtles. Though they proved difficult to defeat, they were still no match for the two swordsmen. They had arrived at an underground river, which seemed to run endlessly with a powerful current.

"It's getting late. We should rest here." Kabushi suggested. He sat by the river and exhaled with relief.

"But we should keep going so we can find everyone else! They could be in trouble or something with those turtles flying around!" Satoshi said urgently.

"Think for a moment. If we continue to go in our injured state, we could wind up losing all of our stamina and dying before we meet them. Also, there could be a chance that we might pass them and never meet up with them, being that this cave is as dark as they can come. Just sit down and get some sleep. We'll continue our search tomorrow."

Satoshi wanted to argue, but Kabushi had a point, unfortunately. "You can go ahead and get set up here. I'm going to look around a bit more."

"Fine, but don't get yourself killed. I want to be the one to kill you first." Kabushi scoffed. He lay on his side and faced the river.

'Sheesh! Talk about violent!' Satoshi thought, tossing the red headed swordsman an awkward glance. He left the area to search deeper into the cave.

Satoshi had been walking for a good 10 minutes, hoping to find any signs of life. He didn't find anyone, which made him slightly dispirited. Feeling weariness coming over him, he felt it was the time to take Kabushi's advice, no matter how much he disliked it.

"Huh…? What's that…?" Satoshi whispered to himself, feeling a nearby presence. The figure was creeping along the shadows. 'Who could that be? It might be Keitaro and Seta, but there's only 1 person, and I don't recognize this person. I should ambush to see who it is…' Thinking quickly, he submerged himself in the water to hide, being there was nowhere else. After a few intense moments, a lone person could vaguely be seen in the darkness. When the person was in range, Satoshi jumped out of the water and lunged at the intruder.

CRASH!

"OOF!" The intruder and Satoshi grunted as they began rolling along the ground, wrestling with each other. However, when they took a good look at each other, they gasped in surprise.

"Kasumi?" Satoshi asked, blinking in surprise.

"Satoshi, what are you doing?" Kasumi interrogated, lying on her back.

"I thought you were…ah…" Satoshi felt something round under his palms, which unfortunately was Kasumi's chest. Curiosity struck him as he squeezed it. "Sheesh, and I thought your mallet was hard…"

_POW!_

Satoshi was sent flying into the wall and implanted their by the said mallet. Kasumi glared murderously at Satoshi. "HOW DARE YOU INSULT ME AFTER I CAME ALL THIS WAY? I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" The enraged red head was about to slay the minimized samurai when a blood curdling scream emanated from down the river's path. The voice belonged to Kabushi.

"Something's wrong with Kabushi! Let's hurry!" Peeling himself from the wall, Satoshi raced with Kasumi towards the origin of the scream.

(End of chapter)

I apologize for the long update, but nonetheless, I finally did it. Sorry for the cliffhanger, but I was kinda pressed for time since this chapter was getting too big. Hopefully, my next update isn't as delayed. More goodness next chapter, so stay tuned and review!

Oh, and if were wondering about Ryuga's outburst statement, yes, the spelling was intentional.


	22. Love Tajiri: Cavern chaos part 2

Here's another addition to the increasingly famous Bushido League. Now, for the past while, you guys have been dying to see the great Yuuki Odamaki again. So for now, I'll say this….HOLD YOUR HORSES! He will be back, but there's more to Bushido League. Besides, some things have to be done before hand, so I can't rush things. Just keep reading. You'll be surprised. Anyway, enjoy the chapter.

* * *

Kabushi, who was sitting alone by the river bank, growled with impatience. He was barely able to create a fire pit for warmth and lighting, and all he needed was for Satoshi to come back so they could set up a camp. "If that idiot doesn't show up in two minutes, I'll find him and break his little neck!"

_SPLASH!_

"What was that…?" Kabushi stood up with a start after hearing a splash somewhere upstream. Curious yet alert, he grabbed his sword and kept a straight focus at the area the sound was from. What he didn't notice was the small bubbles erupting from the water next to him.

Suddenly, a humanoid figure lunged out of the water, and with a cry, went after Kabushi. The samurai only had time to scream in terror as the creature attacked him.

Minutes later, Satoshi and Kasumi arrived with haste to where Kabushi had been attacked, and stared with great shock. Kabushi lay on the ground, his clothes and skin had been ravaged and scratched in many places. His face was contorted with a mix of pain and fright. He was petrified.

Worried, the Team Tatsujin members crouched next to Kabushi and shook him. "Hey, Kabushi? Are you alright?" Satoshi asked urgently.

Kabushi's unfocused and unconscious gaze slowly gained focus as he awoke. He was still in fright mode. "Is…is that beast gone…?" He asked, still alarmed.

"I don't see anything. We just got here moments ago. Tell us what happened." Kasumi asked, keeping an eye out just in case whatever attacked Kabushi returned.

"It…it was a…a…" Satoshi and Kasumi leaned in, curious about the identity of the attacker. "A big…cat…"

Satoshi and Kasumi blinked, swearing they misheard him. "Wait…did you say it was a big cat?"

"Yes, a big, freaking cat with very sharp claws! I didn't see it coming until it was too late!" Kabushi was trembling at the thought, though he tried hard not to let Satoshi and Kasumi notice.

"Hehehe…the mighty Kabushi got beaten up by a cat…" Satoshi snorted under his breath.

Kabushi grew annoyed. "It wasn't just a cat. It was a _big_ cat with sharp claws and quick reflexes. It wasn't a normal Pokémon, that's for sure."

"Hmm…how strange. Perhaps it's something only found in this cave. Which reminds me, just why is it you two are in this cave?" Kasumi asked, pondering the question for quite some time.

"Well, Seta-san wanted to explore these ruins with Keitaro, but since he couldn't leave us behind, we ended up going along with him." Satoshi answered.

"That would explain the wreckage we followed to find you two…that means the rumors about Seta-san's driving is true…" Satoshi and Kabushi grew deathly pale at the mentioning of Seta's driving, causing Kasumi to sweat-drop. "Uh…are you guys okay?" Getting no response, it was easy to tell she walked into a taboo topic. She waved her hands dismissively. "A-a-anyway, I came here with Ayane-san and Naru-san. We kinda got separated when we came across a bunch of tunnels. Also, we fought against some weird metal turtles while trying to get here. What's that about?"

"I've been thinking about that too. They appear to be sentry machines that were built here. From what I can guess, they don't want anything going too deep into this cave." Kabushi glanced down the river path going downstream. "That could mean only one thing…"

"There's something they are trying to protect." Satoshi answered.

Kabushi smirked. "Correct. If anything, Seta-san and Keitaro are trying to go to the deepest part of the ruins to find out. I say we find whatever it is those machines are protecting. Hopefully it's something valuable."

Satoshi crossed his arms, considering the option. While he did want to find his friends and leave the cave, the chance of finding something amazing, perhaps even legendary intrigued him greatly. Besides, it was better than wondering aimlessly with no sense of which way was out. "I guess it wouldn't be too bad. Let's start searching tomorrow. I'm exhausted." Satoshi flopped on the rough ground, laying a few feet away from the camp fire.

Kabushi followed suit. "For once, I can agree with you."

Satoshi peeked at Kabushi with one eye. "Didn't you already say that?"

"Oh shut up…" Kabushi grumbled, facing away.

Kasumi couldn't help but realize something strange between them. Was it her, or did they have a friendly conversation without arguing? It would be nice if the two could actually get along. "Well, I guess I better get some rest too." With that, the three Arcadian students were soon sound asleep.

At the Hinata Inn, a lone figure stood on top of the roof, his yellow eyes staring at the brightness that was the Romance Moon. "Merei…it's been so long since I've seen you…" He brush his long bangs away from his face, his eyes shimmering with longing. "Hopefully she is safe…" Kaisuke said, his expression changing to slight worry. He hated to be away from her for so long, but alas, he and his counterpart still had a reason to stay in Arcadia.

"I figured I would meet you here." A voice spoke suddenly.

The alchemic energy in Kaisuke's hands immediately ceased upon recognizing the person's voice. "It's not nice to play ninja in the dark of the night, Shigeru-san."

"It couldn't be helped. You were acting too cool, so I felt I needed to intervene." Shigeru joked, walking up to Kaisuke.

Turning around, Kaisuke tossed Shigeru a cold glare. "Do you mock me?"

"No, no at all. I just felt the need to see you about something…something of great urgency." Shigeru spoke seriously, capturing Kaisuke's interest.

"Hmm? And what is so important you have to speak with me?"

"There's something that's been bothering me ever since we arrived here at the Hinata Inn. I wasn't attending Arcadia at the time, but the last time a big vacation like this happened…"

One of Kaisuke's eyebrows rose, understanding what Shigeru was getting at. "I've heard about it. It wasn't too long after that the Shadow Raid occurred."

"Correct. The fact that Arcadia is acting on a foreign exchange program with Ivalice irks me. I'm not saying I don't trust Ivalice…"

"You just don't trust the convenience of it all."

"Right. I can never get anything past you, huh?"

Kaisuke grinned. "It's only fitting for a genius mind like mine and Leo-kun's."

"Anyway, I wanted to talk to you since you were the head representative of Ivalice."

"Hmph, that's just another name for scapegoat. The higher ups are pretentious sages who think they know everything. But before I left, I've heard through the grapevine that someone's been talking to them. I don't know who, but ever since then, they've grown…cocky…"

Shigeru grimaced. That wasn't a good sign. Whenever someone with power grew cocky, they often did something about it. "Why are you telling me this? Aren't you with Ivalice?" He knew it was something of a stupid question, but he could never understand Kaisuke's intentions thoroughly.

"Ivalice is my home. There are people who live there I care for, especially one individual. However, there are some guests I don't like. I feel they need to be put in their place." Kaisuke glanced at Shigeru at the corner of his eye, wielding a sly smile. "…Even if I have to get someone else to do it."

"I suppose we're going to have some company in the future?"

"If my hunch is correct, the company may bring multiple guests. You might want to set extra plates on the table…just in case."

"So, does this mean you'll be catering with us?" Shigeru extended his hand to Kaisuke, who faced him completely. There was a pause before Kaisuke shook his hand.

"I'll bring the gifts. You just set the table."

"Works for me." Shigeru and Kaisuke smiled.

"Sheesh, with the way you two talk, I was starting to get hungry." Ibuki joked, appearing before them instantly. She glanced between them, blinking several times. "What's with the surprised looks? Haven't seen a woman before?"

"Uh…it's not that. You just kinda appeared out of nowhere. I kinda forgot how fast you were." Shigeru answered. Kaisuke slipped his hands into his pockets, keeping a cool visage.

"Never mind about that, there's something I need to talk with you two about, now that the alliance has been set." Ibuki's serious gaze targeted Shigeru. "Shigeru…I have a request I would like to make. It pertains to your brother, Satoshi. I still remember what you told me about Satoshi's encounter with Saito and Ruby. If anything, it looks like Saito plans on making his move at the end of the first half year. The reason I ask of this now and not before is because this is something that needs to be done away from the school."

"Wait a minute…if it has to be away from the school, then it must be something I can get in trouble for."

"Don't worry, I'll take responsibility for whatever happens." Ibuki said hastily, not wanting to give Shigeru the wrong idea. "It's just that I think it's time for Satoshi to drop the kiddy gloves and start learning your family secrets."

Shigeru's eyes widened. "You knew?"

Ibuki closed her eyes. "You must not realize who you are dealing with. I know more about you than you know yourself. I know of the Taijiri succession technique. Not only that, but I also know about the Taijiri bloodline and their ultimate ability. I know it's asking a lot, but during this vacation, I need you to initiate the process that will allow Satoshi to use both effectively."

"But…I wasn't supposed to teach him those until he was at least 21. I think it's too soon. He might not be able to handle it."

"Satoshi's a strong kid. Even you have to recognize his true potential."

"I don't mean to interrupt but…I fail to understand what you two are talking about." Kaisuke said, slightly annoyed with the coded language.

"Normally, I would tell you, but I've yet to trust you completely." Ibuki informed.

Kaisuke nodded. "Reasonable. I'll let that one go as long as the technique isn't used against me."

"No worries there. However, I do have a request for you as well. It involves Haruka…" Ibuki started.

"I can guess it involves teaching her my abilities, correct?"

"Yes. Everyone must be conditioned the best they can for the fight ahead, especially Team Tatsujin. That's why I have a significant focus on that group. Think during this time you can get some one-on-one time with Haruka? Speaking of which, how is she doing?"

"She tries to communicate, but it's hard once you lose your voice. She doesn't show it, but her heart is in great pain and suffering. I wish there was a way to help her at least a little bit…"

"The medical mages did all they could. Even Natsume-san had trouble trying to soothe her scarred psyche. Leo really came through for her, but she needs just a little more of a push to get past that mental barrier. Damn whoever did this…!" Ibuki cursed, angered by the vicious act.

"I think I know who can help her." Shigeru said.

"Who is the one person that can help Haruka?" Ibuki asked.

"It's the one who cares more for her than anyone else: Yuuki Odamaki."

"Wait…! Did you just say Yuuki Odamaki?" Kaisuke asked, looking surprised.

"Yes I did. Do you know him?"

Kaisuke was about to answer, but decided to withdraw his comment. Could it really be the same person…? It seemed too much of a coincidence. "…I apologize, but I wish to take my leave for the evening. My protégé doesn't like me to remain active for too long." Before anything else could be said, Kaisuke slipped back inside the inn soundlessly.

"Huh. It seemed as if he was troubled by the name. I wonder if there is a connection…" Shigeru pondered.

"Speaking of troubling, a few students have gone missing, namely Satoshi, Kabushi, Kasumi, and Ayane. Keitaro and Narusegawa have also disappeared." Ibuki mentioned.

"Wait a second…! Are you telling me they have been missing this entire time? Why didn't you say anything before?" Shigeru asked, alarmed.

The blue haired teacher blinked and scratched her head. "Well…I didn't think it was that big of a deal at the time, and I had this huge headache for some reason, so I couldn't think clearly."

"Perhaps if you didn't have everyone drinking sake like no tomorrow, this wouldn't have happened." Shigeru growled irritably.

"…Shigeru-san, I've told you before. I never drink or offer an under aged student a drink."

"That's a lie!" Shigeru exclaimed.

Ibuki sighed. "Look, instead of making up stories about people drinking, why don't we gather some people and try to find them tomorrow? It's better to start during the daylight, when it would be easier."

Shigeru wanted to detest, but if his training taught him anything, nighttime searches were significantly harder than daytime ones. "Fine. We'll get some sleep and then search for them when it's light." He turned to leave, only to be stopped by a hand on the shoulder.

"Wait…before you go…" Ibuki put on a serious face, making Shigeru worried.

"Yes…?"

"…Let's have some sake before bed." Ibuki suggested, offering her bottle of sake.

Shigeru face-faulted. "Stop drinking already!"

In the ruins, Satoshi stirred awake, unable to sleep. As his eyes adjusted to the light emitted by the fire pit, he saw Kabushi wide awake and tending to his painful scratches and cuts. Feeling Satoshi's stare, Kabushi stopped what he was doing and glanced back at Satoshi. Their eyes locked for a moment.

"What's up with you? Shouldn't you be getting some sleep?" Kabushi asked, adding in an annoyed tone for good measure.

"Yeah, but I've just been thinking about something. Something you said earlier."

"What, so you finally realized you really are an idiot?"

"Not that! It was when you were talking to Keitaro-san earlier. You were saying how it's either you know or don't know how you feel about someone. I was wondering why it is you think that?"

"If that's the case, let me answer your question with another question: If there's someone you dislike, do you have to ponder whether you hate that person or not? If you cherish someone, do you have to think endlessly on how you feel?"

"Uh…not really…"

"Exactly. You know what feeling is what. There's no question on how you feel. If you continue to second guess yourself, it will only lead to confusion. It's really simple and obvious. I'm surprised no one else thinks so."

Satoshi kept a sharp focus on Kabushi, taking in every bit of what Kabushi just told him. He arrived at a surprising conclusion. "You know…that's exactly how I used to think…"

Kabushi raised an inquisitive eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"I mean, I honestly used to think it was so easy. I really wish I could agree with you, but I can't. You can easily define the difference between like and dislike, but as I've learned through trial and error, there's a depth that creates a great difference. Not only that, but each feeling has many different forms. Can you honestly say you love the people you like the exact same way?"

"Of course I…" Kabushi was about to answer, but faltered immediately. The question was tougher than he expected. "I…don't know…"

"I won't claim I know everything, but I can definitely say that I'm starting to learn more about stuff like that. Like…I'm starting to realize the different kinds of love out there. I used to think there was one kind of love…but lately, I've been experiencing difference kinds. I understand a lot of the different ones, but there's one I'm still having trouble understand…" His brown eyes stole a glance at Kasumi's sleeping form. A smile graced his lips. "But…I hope I do one day. After all, some people deserve it."

Kabushi was surprised. Was this the same Satoshi he first met? Where was the idiot he wanted to loathe and defeat? There was something else that also troubled him about Satoshi. "Why is it you're telling me all of this? I thought we shared a mutual hate for each other. With the way you're talking to me, you act like we're best friends or something. Don't tell me you're trying to get chummy with me."

Satoshi shook his head. "That's another thing you should probably take time to understand. You may think I hate you, but I don't. I consider you more of a rival than an enemy. True, I dislike you, a lot, but I don't hate you. I understand you've been after me because I defeated you awhile back, but is it necessary to hate me so much?"

"Of course it is. For someone so dumb, you think far too much. Rivals are meant to hate each other. It's an inevitable fate. That's more than enough reason to hate someone. You can't make friends with your rivals. You can only despise, and use that hatred to make you stronger. True strength doesn't come from thinking only happy thoughts or trying to make friends, it comes from fueling your motivation with hatred and using it to defeat those who stand in your way."

"If that were true, then there would be no such thing as a rival, only enemies. I consider you my rival, but it's not because I detest you or anything. As a matter of fact, it's simple why I think of you as a rival."

"Enlighten me, but be warned. If I hear anything remotely like friendship, I'll cut you down right here and now."

"Respect."

Kabushi blinked. "…What?"

"I don't like you, but I don't dislike you. I respect your strength and show how much by comparing my own strength and trying to overcome you. It's not a mission to defeat you; it's a goal for me to get stronger. That's what I think a rival is: someone respectable to compete with."

"…Whatever, I'm tired of talking to you and your respect crap. Get some sleep and get rid of those crazy thoughts running through that little brain of yours." Kabushi lay on the rough ground and turned on his side, facing away from Satoshi.

"Sure. Good night."

"Screw you." Kabushi snapped coldly. He had a good reason to be frustrated, and an even more reason to hate Satoshi.

Satoshi was getting that much harder to hate.

And the worse part was, he was starting to rub off on him.

'That idiot…speaking all of that nonsense. Why should I listen to what he has to say? He's just an idiot…a foolish idiot…' Kabushi released a heavy sigh. 'But…he's a foolish idiot with a good point…maybe I should cut him just a little break…' He was about to fall asleep when Satoshi called out to him.

"By the way, Kabushi. Watch out for _big_, _scary_ cats…" Satoshi chortled.

Kabushi grinded his teeth tightly as his anger flared. 'Next chance I get, I'm going to crush him!' He soon fell asleep, contemplating great vengeance against Satoshi.

Hours later at another part of the cavern, Raigeki's brown eyes fluttered open. Analyzing the darkened surroundings, he began remembering what transpired last night:

_Ever since Kabushi and Satoshi fell into the chasm, Keitaro and Seta had tirelessly explored the caves in an attempt to find their whereabouts. So far, there hasn't been any success._

_Purely exhausted, Seta fell back on the wall and slid down. "Let's take a break."_

_Keitaro stopped and stared at Seta in shock. "Take a break? We just lost two of our guests! If Narusegawa finds out what happened, we will get a permanent break!"_

_Taking out a cigarette, Seta lit the head and placed the cigarette in his mouth. "I certainly understand the situation, but there's nothing we can do if we rush ourselves. Besides, take a good look at those two." The archaeologist pointed to Raigeki and Raijin, who were taking small, repetitive pants. "They're our main line of defense against those flying turtles. If I'd come more prepared, I wouldn't rely on those two, but in this case, we have to let them rest too. Besides, I'm sure those two guest of yours will be fine. I could tell from how they handled themselves when we first encountered those turtles."_

_Keitaro could only sigh. "I guess you're right. I'll take a break." He sat in front of Seta, crossing his legs in the process. Even though he wanted to relax, the feeling of impeding death upon Narusegawa's coming made him rightfully apprehensive. _

"_Relax, Keitaro-kun. Narusegawa isn't here and I doubt she even knows where we are. I suppose we should count our lucky stars for that one."_

"_I'll second that! When Narusegawa gets angry, I'm reminded of a dragon's temper." His attention was suddenly drawn to the sound of knuckles cracking from behind, along with the feeling of intense killing intent. He slowly turned around, only to turn white and pale._

"_So I'm a dragon, huh? Allow me to show you my fangs…" Narusegawa threatened, glaring murderously._

_This was not going to end well…_

Raigeki shuddered at the thought of how many of Keitaro's bones were broken at that time. Regardless, he had no time to worry about such small things, he had to find Satoshi.

"It's about time you woke up." Raijin stated flatly, giving Raigeki a taunting glance.

…Raigeki also forgot to chew the Raichu out whenever given the chance. "Listen you overgrown waste of flesh! I've had it up to here with your lamebrain insults! Why don't you do the world a favor and SHUT UP?"

"I don't have to listen to shrimps like you!"

Raigeki nodded thoughtfully. "Good point. Senile old fools never listen to the young and wise."

Raijin grew infuriated. "I'M NOT AN OLD SENILE FOOL!"

Bingo. Raijin's pet peeve. Raigeki was going to have a field day with this one. "So tell me from personal experience, is it true what they say about old women and sagging breast?"

"Why you little …!" Raijin growled lowly, trying to contain his rage.

"Old hag! Old hag! Raijin's an old hag!" Raigeki sang annoyingly.

That was the last straw. "That's it! PREPARE TO DIE!"

"YIPE!" A small chase erupted between the two rodents as ran around in a circle in the middle of the cavern hallway. "You shouldn't run around like that. You might wet yourself, _old man_."

Raijin tossed piercing glares of death at his target. "RAIGEKIIIIII!"

_ZAP! ZAP! ZAP!_

Raigeki was barely able to dodge the string of Thunderbolts being launched at him. Even though he was in danger, he didn't regret it. His mission was accomplished.

If only he can survive long enough to enjoy his victory…

"Huh…what's going on…?" Keitaro, sleeping against the wall, slowly opened his eyes, only to meet with a misguided Thunderbolt. "GWAAAH!"

"Mmm…Keitaro?" Narusegawa, who was sleeping next to Keitaro, snapped her eyes open and gasped at Keitaro's smoking corpse. "Keitaro! What happened to you?"

Keitaro released a cough before responding. "I'm just slightly…thunderstruck…"

Seta was the last one to awaken due to the ruckus. "What's going here?" He, Keitaro and Narusegawa noticed Raigeki and Raijin running around in a high speed chase. They had no clue what was happening or being said, but whenever Raigeki spoke to Raijin, the bigger rodent's anger soared to new heights."

"Hey, don't bust an artery you old fart!"

"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"

As the two Pokémon dashed into the dark depths of the cave, Raigeki bumped into something big and furry, causing him to bounce off. After shaking off the dizzy spell, he glanced at whatever it was he bumped into, and paled. "Oh…my…"

"I have you now!" Raijin was about to pounce on Raigeki when he noticed what his victim was gawking at. He had the same impression. "Holy…"

The gargantuan creature they bumped into glanced down at the two mice before him. "How dare you bump into me? I should crush you for your insolence…"

"Hey, Raijin…I think if we work together, we might be able to…Raijin?" Raigeki turned around, only to glare in astonishment.

"Age before beauty!" Raijin shouted from the distance.

"YOU COWARD!" Raigeki yelled. He sweat-dropped in fear when he noticed the giant creature approached him. He only had one means of escape… "Look, a convenient plot device!" He pointed towards the opposite direction the creature was staring at.

"…Huh?" The creature glanced behind, only to see nothing but shadow. When he turned around, Raigeki was long gone. Enraged by the cliché escape tactic, the beast ran in the direction Raigeki escaped.

With Keitaro and the other two, they were walking in the direction the two rats ran in when the said Pokémon darted past them, a look of fright in their eyes. "I wonder what's wrong with them…" Keitaro pondered. That is, until the ground underneath rumbled.

"Oh my god! Look!" Narusegawa gasped and pointed ahead, her eyes wide with terror.

Once Keitaro saw what was coming, he knew what to do. "RUN!" He shouted. He, Seta and Narusegawa dashed away in hopes of escaping the oncoming threat.

Sometime into the chase, Keitaro managed to catch up with Raigeki and Raijin and elude whatever beast was after them. For the moment, they were safe. "That was a close one! Hopefully, we don't run into any more troub—AAH!" Keitaro tripped over something on the ground and fell flat on his face. "Ow…why me…?" All that could be identified about the object in the way was spines.

…Wait a second…

"I've seen those spikes before…" Raijin pondered. Using a Flash attack, he and everyone else was clearly able to define what it was they tripped over.

And thus their jaws dropped.

"Mmm…bright light bad for sleepy eyes…" Shizuka groaned. Opening her eyes, she sat up and glanced around. "Morning, Raijin-kun. Why are you so surprised?"

Raijin and Raigeki glanced at each other momentarily.

A second later, they were laughing hysterically.

"What's so funny? I don't look THAT bad in the morning!" Shizuka stated heatedly.

"Perhaps you should look down…" Raijin hinted, unable to contain his laughter.

"What are you…oh my…" Her face turned bright pink upon realization.

How did she end up sleeping on top of Zohl?

Zohl, who was awake and just realizing their position was also shocked and embarrassed. "W-well, you see, it's not as bad as it looks…"

The humans accompanying them, however, thought otherwise. "Keitaro, maybe we shouldn't interrupt." Narusegawa whispered.

"You're right. I've heard it's bad for the environment if you interrupt a mating ritual." Keitaro replied. Seta could only nod in agreement.

The color on Shizuka and Zohl's faces intensified upon hearing their comments. "It isn't like that!" They shouted.

"Sure it isn't. I would like to see Kabu-kun's face when I tell him our little Shi-chan has been sleeping with the enemy…" Raijin teased.

"D-don't you even joke about saying something like that! That's not what happened, honest!"

Raigeki patted Zohl on the shoulder, smirking wickedly. "I see how it is. Escorting a damsel in distress through the darkness…waiting until her defenses are down. And then the next thing you know, you two are—"

"Don't you DARE complete that sentence!" Zohl interrupted sharply. "Look, I'll explain exactly what happened…"

"_Zohl-sempai, I'm tired…" Shizuka whined, slowing her pace._

"_We just have to go a little further until we can reach a good resting point." Zohl urged, keeping focus in his direction._

"_But I'm getting sleepy…" Shizuka yawned to prove this fact._

"_You'll get plenty of sleep in a little bit. Just stay up a little longer." After a minute more of walking, Zohl stopped in front of an opening, pondering his options. "Hmm…there seems to be a path we can take here, but it is unknown how dangerous it could be to go further. Perhaps we should—"_

_GLOMP!_

"_ACK!" Zohl was surprised when Shizuka walked into him and made him fall forward. "Shizuka, what are you…!"_

"_Need rest…need pillow…" The Sandslash murmured, hugging Zohl like a plush toy._

_The red on Zohl's face was almost enough to be seen through his bone helmet. "…Okay, I suppose we might as well sleep here, though I have a suspicious feeling if Raigeki-kun sees this, I'll never hear the end of it…"_

End of flashback.

"…And I called it right…" Zohl finished flatly, noting Raigeki's mischievous grin.

"Don't worry about it, I won't say anything. It'll be in my little black book, just in case." Raigeki said, jotting it down in his memory.

Though Zohl had no idea what he meant by that, he had a very bad feeling about the "little black book".

Suddenly, the earth started trembling underneath them. From the sounds of stomping and snarling, Raigeki, Raijin, Keitaro, Seta and Narusegawa could easily tell that the beast was still after them. "W-w-what's that?" Shizuka asked, stepping closer to Zohl.

"I don't know, nor do I wish to. Let's take our leave." The entire group broke into a run to get away.

Back with Satoshi's group, Satoshi had a very uncomfortable look on his face as he slept. His eyes were tightened as he curled into a fetal position, shivering. Kasumi awoke to notice Satoshi's discomfort. Immediately, she was worried. She crawled over to Satoshi to wake him up, only to stop to listen. Satoshi was whispering in his sleep.

"Seta-san, watch out for those cars…please obey stop signs and police…slow down…dead ends are not short cuts…the mall is not an alternate route…RUN FOR YOUR LIVES EVERYONE!" Satoshi shot up and snapped open, breathing in pants.

"EEEK!" Kasumi jumped, her heart throbbing in her chest. "Don't scare me like that!"

Satoshi's fearful eyes gained enough focus in the darkness to see Kasumi sitting in front of him. "Oh…sorry about that. I was having a bad flashback…"

Kasumi was confused. "Don't you mean nightmare?"

"No, the flashback WAS the nightmare." Shaking the dark memories from his head, Satoshi glanced down to see he was still chibified. "Aw man, I'm still tiny! What gives?"

"Oh yeah. Here, let me help." Performing hand seals, she pressed her hands on Satoshi's chest. "Dispel!"

_POOF!_

A cloud of smoke emanated from Satoshi, and from it, appeared a full sized and normal Satoshi. "Hey, I'm back to normal! But wait…" He tossed Kasumi a curious look. "How did you know how to dispel the spell?"

Kasumi scratched the back of her head, unsure how to respond. "Well…err…you see, it's a funny story…um…"

"Help…me…" A hoarse voice pleaded.

The creepy tone captured Satoshi and Kasumi's attention. Upon looking, they astounded. Kabushi had a pale expression and dilated eyes, signaling fear and a desperate cry for help. The reason for this was the fact that hugging him tightly was a feminine, humanoid cat creature with white fur, cute ears and fluffy tail. She wore human clothing, which was hard to define in the darkness. The sleeping cat girl had a blissful smile as she purred. She was obviously enjoying Kabushi's company, whether he liked it or not.

"What on earth is that? It looks like a cat…but it also resembles a human…"

"I can't believe it…this is…amazing! Cat girls really do exist! Why couldn't that be me…?" Satoshi cried.

Kasumi, not expecting Satoshi's comment, face-faulted. "What is wrong with you?" She shouted.

Her voice woke up the cat girl, who noticed the two Team Tatsujin members and went on the defensive. "Grr…" Obviously, she was interrupted from a good dream, due to her growl.

It also didn't help the creature still had a tight hold on Kabushi.

"Satoshi, we have to get Kabushi away from her. If we can get her pinned down and…Satoshi?" She glanced at Satoshi to see him staring at the girl with starry eyes.

"Cat girl…sexy…" Satoshi said dreamily.

_SMACK!_

"Stay focused!" Kasumi chastised angrily, punching Satoshi in the back of the head.

Broken out of his trance, Satoshi placed his hand on his sword, preparing to draw it. "I can't believe I'm doing this, but I'll try to save Kabushi…even if I don't feel like it…"

The feline was about to strike when her ears perked, detecting a nearby presence. Before Satoshi and Kasumi could react, she fled the scene, taking Kabushi with her.

"What was that about…? She left in such a hurry. Something must've scared her." Kasumi pondered.

"Probably your face…" Satoshi sniggered under his breath.

"I HEARD THAT!" Kasumi screeched. Before she could maul her ally, she saw something running in their direction at a fast pace. She narrowed her eyes to get a good visual, only to brighten. "Satoshi, look! It's Keitaro-san and everyone else!"

"Really?" Satoshi looked to also see Raigeki and Zohl. "Raigeki! Zohl! You guys are alright!"

"Satoshi-kun!" Raigeki and Zohl cried. Raigeki leapt into Satoshi's arms while Zohl simply walked up to him, containing his extreme relief in seeing Satoshi again.

"I've been worried about you guys! Have you been well?"

"I can say the same about you!" Raigeki replied.

Kasumi crossed her arms and huffed. "Hmph, well, aren't you just a bag of jolliness!"

Raigeki blinked, staring oddly at Kasumi. "Uh…did I miss something? What are you angry about?"

"I am NOT angry!" Kasumi barked.

"No, looks to me that she's jealous." Zohl stated.

"I'm not jealous either! Just go ahead and have fun with Satoshi or whatever. I don't care!" She turned her back on them, puffing her cheeks in anger.

"Hmm…" Satoshi thumbed his chin, pondering what would be troubling Kasumi. It clicked moments later. "Ah, I get it. Hang on a second Raigeki." Putting down the Pikachu, he walked up to Kasumi's back and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Sorry about that. It's good to have you here with us. I'm glad you were worried about me."

"W-what? I-I-I wasn't mad or worried at all. D-don't be ridiculous!" Kasumi denied, trying to hide the blush on her face.

"But still, thanks for coming." Satoshi smiled handsomely, and upon seeing this, the color on Kasumi's face doubled in intensity.

"A-anyway, instead of sucking up to me, we should see how everyone else is doing."

"No, don't mind us. Go ahead and continue." Keitaro said, enjoying the show.

"We weren't doing anything!" Kasumi shouted.

"Anyway, what was the rush you guys?" Satoshi asked.

"There's something huge in this cave chasing us! I don't know what it is, but it's big and scary!" Keitaro answered.

"What is this big and scary thing?"

"It's me!" The giant creature snarled, standing right behind Keitaro's group.

Satoshi, recognizing the creature, gasped in shock. "Holy crap…!"

The beast, seeing Satoshi, was also surprised. "You…! I remember you!"

"I remember you too! You're the idiot from chapter 12, that Ursaring!" Satoshi cried, pointing at him.

The Ursaring, as now identified, grew furious. "Speak for yourself punk! I'll have you know that I have a name! Besides, being called nothing but "the Ursaring" is far too bland for someone of my status."

Satoshi cupped his chin thoughtfully. "Hmm…good point. I think the name Mid-Boss fits you a lot better. Or maybe fuzzy panda…"

"You whelp! I'll have you know that I am actually one of the great 7 Fangs of the Raokei pack, Hozaru!" Hozaru, seeing the surprised stares of Kasumi, Satoshi, Zohl and Raigeki, grinned with pleasure. "Hahaha, shocked that I'm a part of the most feared Pokémon pack in Gaetia? You should be!"

"…No, I'm just surprised that someone as random as you actually has a name."

"Arg!" Hozaru face-faulted. "Damn you! You should fear me, not mock me! The very name itself should strike fear in your heart!"

"…Nope. I think mid-boss is better suited for your name. Hey everybody, from now on, his name is mid-boss!"

"Okay." Kasumi shrugged.

"No problems here." Zohl answered.

"I'm down with that." Raigeki said last.

"What is wrong with you people?" Mid-boss, formerly known as Hozaru, cried.

Raijin and Shizuka sweat-dropped fiercely. As confused as they were, it was probably better not to ask.

Keitaro, Narusegawa and Seta were just plain lost. "Uh…Satoshi-san, you actually know this…bear?" Keitaro asked.

"I think the better question is how he is actually communicating with it…" Narusegawa suggested.

"Both are long stories, but that reminds me, how did you survive the fall? I thought you were dead!" Satoshi inquired.

"Hmph, I can't die that easily, especially by the likes of you!" Mid-boss growled.

Kasumi nodded in agreement. "Too true. Idiots are usually too dumb to know how to die."

"Ah…that makes sense as to why Keitaro-kun is so invincible." Narusegawa agreed.

"HEY!" Satoshi and Keitaro yelled.

"ENOUGH OF THIS! IT'S TIME FOR ME TO TAKE REVENGE!" Mid-boss prepared himself to lunge at Satoshi and tear him to pieces.

However, Satoshi had a trick up his sleeve.

"HEY!" Satoshi yelled, pointing at Mid-boss with a serious expression. "Swiper, no swiping!"

Everyone paled upon Satoshi's comment, having the same thought going through their minds. 'You've GOT to be kidding me! That will never work!'

Mid-boss stopped his assault midway and blinked. The next moment, he snapped his finger in disappointment. "Aw, man…" He turned around in an attempt to leave, being his plan was spoiled, only to stop. "…Wait a minute…!" He whirled around, only to see Satoshi and everyone else was long gone. "DAMMIT! NOT AGAIN!" With an earth shattering roar, he furiously charged after the group.

With the gang, they were running as fast at they could, hoping to lose the fury-induced Ursaring. "Why did you have to get him mad like that? Now he'll be chasing us forever!" Kasumi reprimanded.

"What was that whole thing about? And where is Kabushi-san and Ayane-san?" Keitaro asked

"Kabushi was kidnapped by some creature, and as for Ayane…oh no, I completely forgot about her!" Kasumi gasped.

"Did something happen to Ayane?" Satoshi inquired.

"Well, while going through the cave, we kind of lost track of each other and ended up lost. I hope she's alright…"

"Hmm…" Seta noticed the way the terrain was slowly changing as they ran deeper into the ruins. It started to resemble an ancient ruin rather than a mere cavern. There were signs of murals and slabs on the walls, signifying that a group of people used to live here years back. "It looks like we're going really deep into the cave. I don't know what dangers lurk here, but we might be able to see some hidden secrets here if we go further!"

"How could you think of stuff like that in a situation like this?" Narusegawa asked incredulously.

"It's simple. I'm an archaeologist!"

"You're a nut!"

Without warning, dozens of mecha turtles started erupting from the walls, ceiling, and floors. They were trying to swarm them. Mid-boss, who was gaining on the group, was also being attacked.

"There are so many of them! We must be going deep into their territory." Seta informed.

Satoshi's had a blank look on his face. "What is it with smart people stating the obvious…?"

Some distance ahead was a tall door with engraved markings and symbols on it. It was ominous and dangerous looking.

Unfortunately, the gang had no choice but to go through.

"It's time to break through!" With a jump kick, Kasumi managed to get the giant door to crack open, leaving just enough space for the group to go inside. With their combined strengths, they managed to close the door just before Mid-boss could break through. Luckily, Mid-boss was too busy trying to fight off the swarm of metal turtles to bother trying to break the door time.

"Whew, we made it." Satoshi wiped the sweat off his forehead, sighing in relief. Everyone was exhausted from their prolonged chase.

Seta turned around to see an awe-inspiring sight. "Why this…this is absolutely phenomenal! Everyone, take a look!" The group did just that, and was indeed impressed. Before them was a vast passageway with highly detailed art depicting an ancient civilization, their customs, and some of their religion, all of which revolved around turtles. There was lighting from the torches posted on the sides, showing the travelers the way through.

"Satoshi. I think I found something." Raigeki pointed to a trail that resembled scratches.

"Hmm…I think it's the cat girl that kidnapped Kabushi." Satoshi considered.

"Wait…cat girl? Oh no…" Raijin brooded worriedly. Shizuka had the same expression.

"Is something wrong with that?"

"Yeah. Whether you believe it or not, Kabu-kun has a phobia with cats and felines. There will be problems if he's in the presence of one for too long…"

Satoshi looked down the passage, determined. "Let's go find Kabushi. Since everyone's here, we should stick together and try not to get lost. Seta-san, you're an archaeologist, right? Hopefully you can navigate the way for us and help us avoid any unnecessary traps."

"Sure, I'll lead the way. Do any of you have a weapon I can use?"

"A weapon? Uh…sure, here." Kasumi took out her battle pole, extended it, and tossed it to Seta.

The man caught it and expertly twirled it around his body. "It has some good heft to it. It'll be a useful defense just in case. Now that we're prepared, let's go ahead and start exploring!"

"Wait, Seta-san, aren't we suppose to find Kabushi-san?" Keitaro reminded.

Seta looked back at Narusegawa and blinked in confusion. "…We were supposed to find someone?"

"Ugh!" Everyone face-faulted.

"Please pay attention!" Keitaro pleaded.

"Okay, okay, let's go ahead and find Kabushi-san…and THEN we'll go exploring!" With his goals set, he walked off into the ruins. Everyone else followed.

The party delved into the depths of the underground ruins, taking down any traps or robot turtles opposing them. Thanks to Seta's navigational skills and Keitaro's ability for being the perfect bait for traps, the group was easily able to clear the first four floors down. Satoshi, Kasumi and Seta acted as the defense while Narusegawa and Keitaro, who gained a brief tutorial on using Pokémon, coordinated the Pokémon's attacks. Team effort was a must for the swarms of enemies in their path.

On the fifth floor, the party was about to press forward when something jumped at them from the shadows. "Seta-san, watch out!" Satoshi cried.

_CLANG!_

Satoshi deflected the catgirl's claw attack. The creature bounced back and landed on all fours. Technically, it was all three since she was still clutching onto Kabushi. "Let him go! …or at least switch him with me…." Satoshi added under his breath.

"Never…!" The creature growled.

Everyone blinked. Did the catgirl just talk? "Hold up…you can speak?" Kasumi questioned.

"Yes I can, and I shall never let you have Kabu-kun! He's mine!"

"Raigeki! Paralyze with Thunder Wave!" Satoshi shouted.

The cat humanoid glanced at her side to see Raigeki powering up. "Eat this! Thunder Wave!"

"Meow!" The inhuman woman barely dodged the capturing electric attack. "Nice try little rat!"

However, she neglected the other Pokémon's presence."

"Let Kabu-kun go! Pin Missle!" Shizuka cried, launching her spines at the catgirl.

The creature was injured and fell hard on the ground. She made sure to guard Kabushi from the fall. 'There are too many of them. I have to escape…!' Her eyes made their way down the corridor, her only means of escape. Without a second thought, she tore down the hallway.

"Let's hurry!" Satoshi shouted. He led the party in pursuit of the creature.

At the end of the hallway, the party arrived at a three way path. Being that the creature was swift, the party had no idea where she went. Seta stopped in front of the intersection and faced the group. "Here's the plan. If we want to catch up to that woman, we will have to break in three groups. I'll take one path. Narusegawa-san, Keitaro-kun, can you two handle one of the paths?"

"If we can borrow the Pokémon, I think we'll be secured enough just incase we get attacked. Satoshi-san, Kasumi-san, can we borrow them?" Keitaro asked. The two nodded, feeling it was best for them to have the Pokémon since the two would be more secured that way.

"Good. Okay, that leaves you two to take the last path. Is this setup alright with you?" Seta inquired. Satoshi and Kasumi confirmed with a nod. "Alright, let's not waste any more time. Good luck everyone!" Bidding farewell, the group split up into their respective teams and entered each of the passageways.

Seta ran down the fifth basement floor, keeping an eye out for any traps. For many minutes he chanced down the path and possibility of running into the creature that kidnapped Kabushi. It was possible he had gone down the wrong path, but he wasn't one to give up.

While running, he thought over his encounter with the catgirl. The way she was protecting and harboring Kabushi, it was easy to tell she felt strongly about the boy. Perhaps fighting doesn't need to be an answer to get Kabushi free from the woman's clutches.

As he reached a certain point of the passage, Seta noticed a room with a cracked door. Peeking through the cracks, he found a sight that brought a smile to his lips.

Inside the room, Kabushi lay on a makeshift bed while the cat woman began mothering him. "Poor Kabu-kun, he looks so stressed. Maybe some water will help…" She grabbed a towel from her backpack, dampened it with a small bottle of water, and placed it on Kabushi's forehead. A content smile appeared on her face as she brushed her furry knuckle against Kabushi's pale cheek. "I hope you feel better soon Kabu-kun. I didn't mean to injure you, I guess I got a little excited since it's been so long, and…and I couldn't help myself…" A scowl soon replaced her happy expression. "That Ayane-chan…how could she be so blind and selfish…! She has you all to herself, and doesn't do a thing to get closer to you while I can only watch from the shadows. If only I could have a chance at telling you how I really feel…"

"It's never too late to let someone know how you feel." Seta said.

"MEOW!" The cat girl jumped with fright, spreading her arms to protect Kabushi. "Get back you…!"

Seta raised his hands defensively. "Whoa, whoa, take it easy there! I'm not here to cause anyone any harm. I just happened to cross by and thought I would say hello."

"Why should I believe you? For all I know, you can be trying to trick me…!"

"Well, I could've easily knocked you out from behind when you didn't notice me at first. Come on, does this smile look untrusting to you?" Seta smiled brightly to prove his innocence.

The girl took a moment to consider what she should do. It was better to have a friend to assist her than make an enemy. Besides, being lost in a deep cavern wasn't the best place to start a commotion. "Fine, but if you try anything to Kabu-kun, I won't forgive you!"

"No worries here! While we're at it, why not we introduce ourselves. I'm Seta, a friend of Keitaro-kun and Narusegawa-chan. And yourself?"

"It's Mizuki."

Seta glanced over at Kabushi, who was still unconscious. He had an idea, but first, he had to find a few facts out. "If you don't mind, I would like to talk to you about a few things. I don't know what's going on with you and everyone else, but I wish to help you out if you allow me."

Mizuki narrowed her eyes. "Why do you want to help me? What's in it for you?"

Seta took a cigarette from the pack inside his lab coat and popped it into his mouth. "It's nothing special. I just want everyone to get along and get together. The world would be a better place if people were honest and worked together. Don't you agree?"

"Um…yeah, I do."

"My point exactly. So, will you be willing to cooperate? I promise it won't involve Kabushi-san getting harmed in anyway."

"Only if you're sure…" Though Mizuki was willing to cooperate, she wasn't planning on letting her guard down.

With Satoshi and Kasumi, they had wandered down three floors of the dungeon with no sign of Mizuki. Kasumi was starting to have her doubts. "I'm starting to think that catgirl didn't go this way. We should probably head back before we get too lost." Satoshi didn't answer her back, but looked very cautious. "Satoshi?"

"Have you noticed anything strange since earlier?" He whispered. His glance never left the dark corners of the large room they entered. The lighting was poor, making it easy for someone to hide and tail the two.

"Now that you said it, I've had a strange feeling, as though we were being watched." She fingered for one of the Pokéballs hooked on her belt.

"I wonder, could it be that catgirl…? Wait…!" Satoshi's keen eye caught something shifting in the shadows. Something was definitely there. If only there was some light… "Kasumi, give me some light!"

"I'm already on it! Go Baiken! Light up the room!" Kasumi called out, releasing the Blaziken from the Pokéball. Using a bright Ember attack, Blaziken alleviated most of the darkness in the room. The split second of lighting allowed Satoshi and Kasumi to catch a small glimpse of their intruder. From one glance, they could tell two distinct feature:

Whoever was stalking them was a ninja.

A ninja with white hair…

"No way…could it be him…?" Satoshi wasn't going to let that ninja get away. Not until he was absolutely sure. "Let's go!"

"Right! Baiken, keep some light on that ninja!" Kasumi commanded, dashing forward. Baiken shot a flurry of small balls of fire, enough to keep a spotlight on the ninja.

"Damn…not now…!" The ninja cursed, fleeing as fast as possible. He ran down the narrow corridors with extreme speed, desperately trying to escape.

"You're not getting away! Go, Mikado! Wet the floor with Water Gun!" Kasumi commanded, summoning the Feraligatr. Mikado shot ahead of the fleeting ninja and wetted the floor. Kasumi cursed under her breath when the ninja jumped on the wall and started running along it. Each time Mikado fired, the ninja would run along the next safest spot. "Time to get serious! Baiken, let's use that technique we've been practicing! Use Agility!"

"Right!" Baiken nodded. The fowl Pokémon suddenly starting speeding up faster and faster, up until the point she was much faster than the ninja.

The ninja glanced back, seeing Baiken gaining on him. He had no choice but to go offensive. His hands performed several swift seals. Once completed, he slammed them on the ground. "Doton: Gokusha wana no jutsu!"

Satoshi was surprised. He'd seen that attack before. "Baiken, jump over the ground quickly!" Baiken did as commanded and quickly jumped over the ground, barely avoiding the capturing technique.

"Hey, Satoshi, get on my back and be my defense!" Baiken requested, slowing down to Satoshi's speed level. Satoshi jumped on Baiken's back and held onto her. Kasumi did the same with Mikado.

The ninja was at a great disadvantage. If he was to escape them, he had no choice but to use _him_. Hesitantly, he grabbed onto the Pokéball clinging on his belt. "Pokéball, go!" He shouted, releasing the creature inside.

Satoshi and Kasumi gasped at the Pokémon they saw released.

It was a Scyther.

The ninja climbed on top of the dark colored Scyther's back and jetted down the long and winding path.

"Satoshi, could it be…?" Kasumi asked.

"There's no mistaking it! I know that scent anywhere!" Baiken glared at the Scyther, who had strange black and purple marks all over his body. "That's Vash!"

"But that's Yuuki's Pokémon! Does that mean that ninja is Yuuki?" Mikado inquired.

"Why would he be running away from us if he was him? And what about Shiroku, Yuuki's alternate personality? None of this makes sense! Let's just catch the guy and ask questions later!" Satoshi brandished his blade as he and Baiken started chasing down the ninja and the Pokémon assumed to be Vash.

The halls were seemingly endless as the chase dragged on. It wasn't a completely straight path, for some paths were downward spirals while others had sharp turns and even traps that would hinder them greatly. Whenever it seemed like Satoshi or Kasumi would get close to the ninja, he would panic and use smoke bombs, ninja techniques, or small explosives to gain some distance.

Minutes later, the ninja and his pursuers arrived in a large, dome area resembling a vast coliseum. The area was ancient and showed with much erosion of the stone seats and design. 12 giant statues depicting turtles were stationed on top of stone columns placed at 12 different points of the coliseum. The ninja and Vash made a dash for the other side, which led even deeper into the ruins.

"Oh no you don't! Mikado, Ice Beam that path shut!" Kasumi yelled out. Mikado released a powerful Ice Beam which created a wall in the door way, blocking the ninja's escape. It was too thick to be easily cut down, which gave Satoshi enough time to get to him.

"Stop right there!" Satoshi yelled, catching up to the ninja.

The fleeting man cursed under his breath. He was trapped. Recalling the Scyther, he grabbed the handle of the ninja blade on his back. "Stay back…" The ninja warned. His voice was shaky.

Satoshi knew that voice. Though the ninja's face was veiled, those red eyes, white hair, and voice gave it away. "…Yuuki? Is that really you…?"

"I said stay back!"

Kasumi stepped forward, but cautiously as to not alarm him. "Yuuki, it's us, your teammates, your friends. Why are you running away?"

"I…I-I can't explain, but just go away! This is something I have to do!" Yuuki yelled.

Satoshi grew furious. "It's more important than your friends? More important than Haru—"

"SHUT UP!" Yuuki lashed, causing the two to step back. He took off his mask, revealing himself to be no other than Yuuki. He looked bitter and weakened, as though he didn't sleep for weeks, or even months. It seemed as though he would collapse at any moment from sheer exhaustion. He was a mess. "You need to forget about me! I'm no longer the person you knew! Get away unless you want to die!" Yuuki's blade slowly emerged out of his sheath.

Satoshi and Kasumi stared with great shock. "Yuuki, what has happened to you within these few months? What has Saito done to you? And what about Shiroku, is he involved?" Satoshi interrogated, stepping closer to him.

Yuuki slashed his sword at Satoshi, forcing him to move away. The ninja's movements were sloppy and he staggered weakly. "Don't….freaking…try it…just go away. You have no idea what I'm going through…and…and it's all your fault!" He jerked his sword at Satoshi.

"My fault? Are we forgetting who has a blood thirsty monster for a second personality? Blame him, not me!" Satoshi snapped back.

"No…it's you alright…you…you…you…!" Yuuki took slow steps towards Satoshi, his sword still pointed at him. "I know so much about you and your accursed family now…more than I could ever imagine…! Your blood-stained lineage…your dirty, rotten secrets…I know so much, so much that it makes my blood boil…!"

"Okay, now I'm completely lost. WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?" Satoshi roared.

Yuuki wasn't done, for he continued. "And it didn't end with your father, oh no…you had to come into my life and ruin it! You're no better than Lucifer himself! I had her to myself, free of obstructions and troubles. But you…once you entered my life, everything changed! Of all the things you could've taken from me, why…why…why did it have to be her…? Couldn't you have at least let me have what little happiness I have in life…?"

While Satoshi was lost, Kasumi was pondering one of Yuuki's statements. Her…her…who was her? Wait a minute…he was talking about… "Yuuki! Don't be foolish! Satoshi didn't take her away from you, she's actually—"

"TO HELL WITH YOUR EXCUSES! I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF THEM!" Yuuki yelled. He collapsed on his knees and coughed.

Blood escaped his cough, which frightened Satoshi and Kasumi.

What on earth happened to him?

Satoshi wasn't going to give up. "Yuuki, you obviously need help. Let us help you…"

Yuuki clenched his bloodied teeth and glared at Satoshi. "I don't need your freaking help. You make me sick…!"

"What has gotten into you? You're not making any sense! You go off stalking us, then you run away, and now you're cursing me out and talking about all this nonsense about my blood-stained family? Saito obviously messed up your head! As a matter of fact, I doubt you're Yuuki at all! I'll bet you're Shiroku, aren't you?"

"If I was Shiroku, you would be dead right now…! Now stop wasting my time and get away from me! I must get _it_! _It_ shall be mine…!"

"What is _it_? What are you searching for? If it will help you get back to normal, we will help you! Just please, stop tormenting yourself!" Kasumi pleaded.

Yuuki's expression turned sour and depressed. "This is only justified punishment. What I'm searching for is the power I need. Power to crush Saito, to kill my enemies and protect Haruka from people like you…"

Satoshi sneered at the last comment. "Protect Haruka? HAH! You look like you can't even protect yourself! As a matter of fact, I'm glad Haruka isn't here to see a ravaging lunatic of the person she cared for like a brother! I can't believe she actually lost her voice because someone like you left."

"Wait…lost her voice? You think…hmhmhmhm….HAHAHAHAHA!" Yuuki started laughing uncontrollably, but soon stopped abruptly to cough. More blood fell from his lips. "Is that what you think? Haruka doesn't care about me nearly that much! As a matter of fact, I shall tell you exactly what happened! You remember when she was bound to a tree? Tazuma had performed an illusion on her to make her mind treat water as molten lava, and do you want to know what he did next? He poured it down her throat!"

"Oh my god…!" Kasumi gasped in horror. She didn't think anything THAT horrific happened. Satoshi was equally shocked.

Yuuki's shoulders drooped, his sword loose in his hand. His eyes lowered, tears threatening to fall. "I saw everything from start to finish. I wanted to be the hero and save her as I've done before. Not only did I lose any chance of having her heart, but I lost her faith and trust in me. You saw it and she saw it, that moment in the Kage Forest! I've murdered people without a second thought! So what Shiroku was mainly to blame, I'm also to blame for letting Haruka get scarred for life!" A sadistic smile appeared on his face as he gripped his blade. "But that will be over soon…all of that will end very soon…once I obtain everything I desire…I will no longer be weak…! I will be able to protect her from everything, and everything that stands in our way will die a cruel fate…the fate that will soon be in my hands…I already started the process…" Yuuki revealed his arm, which had black markings slowly consuming his arm. The side of his face was starting to be covered as well.

"Yuuki…enough's enough. I'm only going to say it one more time. Stop this nonsense and come back to us." Satoshi's tone was firm and serious.

"You've wasted enough of my time. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go on, and no one's going to stop me." Yuuki turned around and was about to proceed forward when he heard the sound of a sword being pulled out of its sheath.

"I will bring you back whether you like it or not. If you think I'm going to just let you go off by yourself again, you're insane!" Satoshi held the sword in position, narrowing his eyes at Yuuki.

"Tch, so you finally reveal your true colors, eh? So be it. Maybe by killing you, Haruka will come back to me…" Yuuki faced Satoshi and brandished his sword as well.

"Both of you stop this! This is insanity! You two are friends, comrades! You shouldn't be fighting each other!" Kasumi pleaded desperately. This was breaking her heart. She couldn't even imagine how Haruka would feel if she saw this.

"It's no use Kasumi. He's not going to listen to what we have to say anyway. If we beat him to a pulp and bring him back, then we can start convincing him to stop this madness."

"Stop acting like you know everything. I would say walk a mile in my shoes, but I doubt you could even go 2 feet without losing your mind. Perhaps I should kill you here rather than wait until then…"

"Wait until then?" Satoshi repeated.

"…No, never mind. It doesn't matter since I'm going to kill you here! DIE!" Yuuki dashed at Satoshi, as did Satoshi to Yuuki. The two were about to clash when—

_CRASH!_

"What the…!" Satoshi barely avoided the giant, stone fist that punched the ground between him and Yuuki.

Shockingly, it was from one of the 12 giant turtles which sprang to life.

"Ugh, could you guys stop fighting until AFTER we're done fighting these things off?" Mikado fired a water gun at one of the stone turtle golems, but to no effect.

"I shall not let anything stand in my way…" As Yuuki started a long series of hand seals, the black markings started increasing visibly. Once the final seal was down, one of his hands started glowing red. "Banshee Hell Slash!" With one slash at the direction of several giants, a gigantic swarm of blade shaped red auras ripped through four of the golems, cutting them down into nothingness. Satoshi, Kasumi and the Pokémon had to shield their ears due to the horrid sound of blood curdling screams emanating from each of the blade waves. However, it was after that Yuuki collapsed on his knees and started coughing.

"Yuuki!" Satoshi was about to run to his aid when a giant turtle statue blocked the path. He and Kasumi were completely surrounded.

One of the giants was about to flatten Kasumi with a bone shattering punch when something, or rather someone, stopped it. Kasumi and Satoshi gawked in shock. "Ibuki-sensei!" They cried. Ibuki stopped the attack with a single thrust of her palm.

"And here I thought you guys were just lost! You better make up for making us so worried! Dynamic Crush!" Ibuki yelled. She jumped in the air, spun several times, and landed a powerful downward punch on top of the turtle's head. The resulting action caused it to shatter into dust.

One of the golems erected two cannons from its shoulders and was about to fire when Sakura stood in the line of fire. "Hyper Gatling Fist!" Throwing a blur of punch attacks, she fired a rapid wave of chi bullets the size of her fist, filling the giant tortoise full of holes.

"Damn, there's still six left!" Satoshi cursed.

"Don't worry, I shall assist." Kaisuke said, jumping in front of Satoshi. He flashed his palm at two of the golems. "They're not organic, so they are no threat to me." Suddenly, from the backs of the turtles, two stone serpents emerged and proceeded to attack and devour their host. After eating half of the body, Kaisuke clenched his hands, causing them to cease function and break into mere boulders.

"Thunder element: Lightning Break!" Motoko yelled, jumping above one of the turtles from behind. Before it could react, she slashed a powerful wave of thunder at it. The powerful attack cut through the giant, making it crumble under its own weight.

"Haruka, do your thing!" Kaisuke commanded.

_BOOM!_

Two of the turtles suffered a series of explosives, reducing them to rumble. From behind, Haruka walked towards the group, flexing her gloved hands. She smiled innocently, as though she didn't just decimate two titans.

"Nice one! Now there's just one left!" Satoshi cheered.

"I suppose I shall make my entrance now!" Shigeru could be seen lunging towards the final enemy from above. "HAAA!"

_SLASH!_

Once Shigeru landed, the giant fell into many pieces. "And that takes care of that."

Ibuki wiped a sweat from her forehead. "It's been an exhausting few hours trying to find you two. What are you doing so far down this ruin anyway?"

"Well, we were…" Satoshi glanced over at the spot Yuuki was crouched, but found no one, not even the blood that Yuuki coughed up. He glanced back at Kasumi, who was just as confused as he was. "It's a long story, but we were mainly trying to find Kabushi."

"You mean this guy?" From the entrance to the coliseum, Ryuga, Anji and Seta appeared. Seta had been carrying Kabushi on his back while Anji carried Ayane, who were unconscious.

"Ugh, these two are so lazy! Next time, I say we leave them there!" Ryuga huffed.

"If they heard you saying that, they would kill you right now." Anji warned. Ryuga laughed it off.

"And don't forget us." Team Tenshi, Zeji and Isuka emerged from the other side of the entrance. Takeshi wielded a heavy treasure chest in his hands. "Luckily, we've gone ahead and scoured the ruins. We found this at the lower floor. Don't worry about the traps and enemies because we've managed to take care of them." Hiroshi informed.

Satoshi and Kasumi both sat on the floor and released a sigh, thoroughly exhausted. "Now that that's over with, could we _please_ get out of here?" Kasumi requested. Her sister helped Kasumi to her feet, whereas Shigeru lifted his brother and placed him on his back.

"Hey, I'm not ten years old! You don't have to give me a piggy back ride!" Satoshi complained, feeling embarrassed.

"Unless you want me to start telling stories of you at that age, quit complaining." Shigeru threatened half-heartedly. That was enough to shut Satoshi up.

"Alright everyone, good work! Let's get out of here and back to the Hinata Inn!" Ibuki cheered. Everyone was quick to agree and proceeded to leave.

Satoshi glanced back at the spot he remembered seeing Yuuki last. It scared him to think what could've happened that changed his behavior so drastically. Even though such a situation occurred, he had a feeling that wasn't going to be the last time they saw him. With Yuuki being in the area somewhere, he was definitely going to find him and bring him back, no matter what!

In the background of the coliseum, hiding in the shadows, Mid-boss growled under his breath. "It's a good thing I didn't come earlier, I would've been killed! This is definitely some interesting news. It looks like they've found what the Raokei has been looking for. Also, I didn't expect to see that ninja twerp again. I should report these findings immediately…that is, once I find a way out…" The Ursaring left the scene undetected, planning on spreading the news.

Elsewhere, things didn't turn out as well…

Keitaro, Narusegawa, and the Pokémon released a heavy sigh, sitting in the middle of dozens of mechanized turtles, which were inactive for the moment. Any false movements would active them. "Why do I get the feeling we've been forgotten…?" Keitaro and Narusegawa sighed.

"And why do I find this situation familiar…?" Zohl commented, keeping a calm, but still annoyed, complexion.

Raigeki wasn't so calm. "DAMMIT SATOSHI! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU THE NEXT TIME I SEE YOU!" He shouted in frustration. Unfortunately, that act of anger caused the turtles to activate.

"AAAH!" Everyone yelled, being shot at by many flying turtles.

* * *

Whew, and that's chapter 22, possibly one of the hardest chapters in the past while. I hope you liked this chapter, especially people who were hoping for a plot and certain characters to appear. Sorry if this chapter seems choppy, but there are better chapters to come later, I promise. Please review and tell me what you think.

* * *

Back at the Hinata Inn, Su waltzed happily into her room. She sat at a computer screen and typed in a few keys. Once she hit enter, she glanced at the monitor screen and scratched her head in confusion. "Huh, that's funny. I've could've sworn I deactivated my mecha Tama-chan defense force long ago. Oh well, I'm sure they aren't causing any trouble, right Tama-chan?" She asked a flying yellow turtle with a green shell, which gave a grunt in response.

She failed to see a large group of angry faces behind her…


	23. Love Tajiri: Birth of the Super Shippers

Disclaimer: I don't own the bloody thing already! Sheesh!

Claimer: I own this story, the original characters, and the idea.

Just to warn you guys, I've decided to make a small change. Duplica's name will be replaced with her Japanese name, Imite. I'll change these when I have the time.

* * *

"Ugh…I really hate coming here…" Hozaru grumbled, sloshing his way through a watery grotto. It was dark, wet, and hard to move. Deep into the caverns, Hozaru stopped at a large door. In front of the door were four Wartortles with roman style armor, wielding sharp tridents. 

One of them stepped forward and pointed its trident at Hozaru. "Identify yourself!"

"I'm Hozaru of the Raokei! I'm here to see Sukaku."

"You may pass." The wartortle guard stepped out of the way while the other guards opened the gates, allowing Hozaru passage.

Inside the room was a magnificent sight to behold. It was a large blue room with walls made of dense crystals, a bright blue tint emanating from the ceiling. From the ceiling hung clear drapes and the long carpet on the floor led to a large pool taking up most of the room. Hozaru walked along the carpet up to the pool. "Sukaku, I have news."

From the water arose a gigantic armored turtle with two powerful cannons on its back. It was a Blastoise. "Hozaru, why is it you have come to visit me? It's not everyday you actually come here."

"That makes my news all the more urgent. You remember those kids I told you about? They're here."

Sukaku's eyebrow rose with interest. "Oh? So the ones who were actually able to beat you are here? How entertaining..."

"That's not all. It looks like those kids have some high ranking warriors on their side, and they found _it_ in those ruins."

"So they actually found it? Glorious, glorious! Things should start getting interesting now!" Sukaku laughed, his booming voice shaking the crystalline room. "I can't wait to meet those brats and watch them squirm under my might!"

"Don't get ahead of yourself. They've managed to beat me. That says a lot in itself."

"Hmph, no it doesn't. Just because you're one of the Fangs doesn't mean you're that strong. I'll bet these kids are nothing but pushovers!"

Hozaru grunted in annoyance. He really hated Sukaku's arrogance. "You'll just have to see for yourself. Don't blame me if you get yourself killed."

"Me? Killed? HAH! I laugh at your words, Hozaru! I will prove to you that I can crush these children! First, I shall make the necessary preparations."

"Hold on, I still have one last bit of information. It looks like Saito's little project is here as well. He's in the process of opening the second gate. Most people wouldn't be alive or sane at this point, but he seems to be handling it well. Given his progress, he should be able to open all the gates of the seal in two more months. Right on schedule."

"Two months? That's very impressive. It would take a normal person over a year to get to that stage. And he's in this area? Amusing, very amusing. I'm sure Saito will want to hear of this news. I'll have him notified about it soon."

"I've got things to do elsewhere, so I'll leave everything to you." Hozaru turned about and left the room, leaving Sukaku to his devious plot.

Elsewhere, the atmosphere was much livelier and enjoyable. A full day had passed since everyone returned from the ruins. To celebrate the coming of the Ocean Moon, the Arcadian students were invited to stay at the Hinata Inn's beach house for the three day event. The beach house was also a food stand where the Hinata girls would serve customers freshly cooked snacks and delicacies. While the Hinata girls worked at the beach house, the Arcadian students played a variety of games and were enjoying themselves.

However, for Team Tatsujin, it was a different story.

Sakura and Shigeru had pulled their respective siblings off the side once they arrived at the beach, not explaining to everyone else their reason for it. Kaisuke had done the same with Haruka, having a goal in mind to accomplish.

This left some people with too much time on their hands.

Ryuga and Anji were trekking the sandy coast by the ocean, enjoying the clean ocean scent. The mage released a sigh. "Man, today is actually starting to look normal for once."

"Normalcy isn't too bad once in a while. It's a lot better than yesterday. I thought we were going to die…"

"I still don't think it's my fault…" Ryuga mumbled to himself. The two thought back to the moment they had a close brush with death.

_Kabushi stormed through the hallway of the inn, his eyes filled with killing intent. Once he found the person responsible for this mess, that person would die a horrible death. His two Pokémon followed warily, not wanting to do anything to provoke his wrath. They knew about his secret, and respected it. Kabushi was very touchy about the subject of his interest, and didn't want nor felt like being criticized for being artistic in any way. Sometimes, he cursed himself for always downing other people for their love of literature when he was an artist. Simply, he was a hypocrite. _

_The samurai was about to pass his room when he heard some chatter. Curious, he stopped to listen to the conversation._

"_What are you guys doing? If he finds out, he'll kill us!" Ayane chastised._

"_I didn't think it was that big a deal. I mean, it's just an art book, a really cool book! Just look!" Ryuga excitedly pointed to the page with his picture in it. "Anything with me in it is definitely 5-star quality!"_

"_It wouldn't hurt to be just a little modest, Ryu-kun. Although, I have to admit I look pretty good here." Anji nodded in approval, looking at his picture._

"_I can't believe this is happening! Give me that!" Ayane quickly snatched the book from the two._

"_Oh come on, what's the big deal? It's not like it's anything serious. It's just an art book. I'm sure he wouldn't be mad." Ryuga asked._

_SLAM!_

_Anji, Ryuga and Ayane tensed at the sound of the door opening with a loud slam. They slowly turned to see a shocked and extremely perturbed Kabushi glaring at them. "So you three were the ones who started this mess…!"_

_Raijin, standing next to his partner, looked at Ayane and pointed in surprise. "That's right! Now I remember! The girl in your room that night looked exactly like Aya—mmph!"_

"_Shh!" Shizuka clamped her hand on Raijin's mouth, who just realized what he had done._

_Kabushi froze at Raijin's comment, slowly turning to look at Ayane. "You…didn't…!"_

"_Hmm…come to think of it, I think I saw Ayane leaving your room at the time we found your book on the ground…oops…" Ryuga gasped, slapping himself mentally for speaking too quickly._

_Ayane was rendered speechless, staring wide eyed at Kabushi. He looked truly disappointed. "It…it wasn't like that…I…"_

_Kabushi snatched the book from Ayane's hands, casting the darkest glare he could muster at his teammates. He said nothing as he took off, leaving everyone behind._

_Everything was silent for a few moments as they stood in with surprised looks on their faces. "…Well…all and all…I would like to say none of this is my fault." Ryuga declared, breaking the silence._

"_You two…" Ayane growled, her voice sending shivers down Ryuga and Anji's spines. They knew what that voice meant. "5…4…"_

_The two needed no more convincing as they sprinted for their lives._

"I mean really, Ayane-chan shouldn't have been THAT mad! I think Kabu-kun took it quite well." Ryuga shrugged.

"It was obvious Kabu-kun didn't want us to know he had an art book. Then again, with the way he's always criticizing artist and such, you would never guess."

"Definitely a mystery of the world that is yet to be solved."

"Speaking of mysteries…" Anji paused as his eyebrow twitched, "May I ask why on earth you are wearing your mage uniform on the BEACH? Please notice that you are the only person here that isn't in swimwear." Just as Anji said, Ryuga was still wearing his mage robe, while Anji had on a pair of grey swimming trunks.

"Hmph, I prefer not to ruin my perfect complexion from water or unworthy eyes."

"Well, aren't you modest?" A voice spoke from behind.

Recognizing the voice, Ryuga and Anji turned around. "Ah, aren't you Imite-san?" Anji asked.

"That's me!" Imite answered cheerfully.

Ryuga huffed. "Up to no good are you, Enemy-san?"

"Enemy…-san?" Anji questioned.

"Of course! After what she did to me, I shall never forgive her!" Ryuga shouted.

"It's Imite, not Enemy-san. Anyway, I would like to talk to you two about something I've been noticing lately. Haven't you notice that there's some tension from different groups here? I have a feeling that there may be lingering feelings or something that they are unwilling or unable to display."

"I haven't noticed, though there's a possibility." Anji pondered.

"What's your point, Enemy-san?" Ryuga questioned, sounding uninterested.

"My point is that someone has to do something about this! Someone who can help people get together and experience the joys of love! We need two more members that qualify to join, and you two meet those requirements."

"Now…while I have a bad feeling about this, just what exactly is this group?" Anji asked.

"Glad you asked, Anji-kun! I welcome you two to join…" Imite positioned herself in a flashy pose, "The almighty Super Shippers, where we analyze shippings and do everything we can to help them out!" She cheered, shooting her fist in the air.

Ryuga and Anji sweat-dropped. "Super…Shippers?"

"That's right! So what do you think? You can either sit here bored to death, or you can join the cause of getting people all over together!"

"How interesting…yet odd. I suppose it wouldn't be a bad idea. I don't mind joining." Anji nodded.

"I refuse to have anything to do with Enemy-san! I don't, or will I ever, plan to join whatever scheme she's up to!" Ryuga declared.

A smirk appeared on Imite's face. "Is that so…? Looks like I've just have to convince you otherwise. TSUBAKI!"

Suddenly, a pair of purple hands grabbed onto Ryuga's arms and lifted him in the air. "What are you going to do to me?"

"If you don't join, I'll have you tossed out into the sea!"

"You…you dastardly fiend! Let me down this instant! Ryuga thrashed within the Haunter's grip, but to no avail. He was trapped.

"If you say so." Imite pointed to the ocean, where Tsubaki floated Ryuga over to. "Alright Tsubaki, you heard the man, dro—"

"Okay, okay! I'll join! I'll join!" Ryuga cried. Poor Ryuga…

The two new members of the Super Shippers were taken to the group's meeting point, which was in front of the beach house. There, four other students from Arcadian sat at the stand, feasting on ice cream cones. Imite was quick to introduce their newest members. "Takeshi-kun, Kenji-kun, Shuu-kun, I would like you to meet our newest members, Anji-kun and Ryu-kun!"

"I refuse to accept you calling me that! You shall refer to me as Ryuga-san, and Ryuga-san only!" Ryuga yelled.

"Relax. We don't want you thrown into the ocean." Anji advised. Ryuga growled under his breath, but said nothing more on the matter.

"Anyway, I say we walk around the beach and see what's up with everyone. Maybe we'll get a few requests to mend some broken hearts." Takeshi suggested.

"How does this work exactly?" Anji asked.

"We basically search around for those who need help in any aspect of love and fulfill those requests. Think of us as freelance mercenaries of romance." Kenji answered.

"So in other words…we have nothing better to do."

"Close enough."

"Shall we get going? I'm sure there's someone out there who wants our help! Let's go!" Imite marched forward while everyone else followed.

5 minutes barely went by when the Super Shippers encountered their first client, Hiroshi, clad in a pair of teal shorts with yellow lines on the side. "Hey guys. What's up?" Hiroshi greeted.

'_This is it! Our first mission as the Super Shippers!'_ Imite thought excitedly. "So far so good. Are you still having trouble with Furuura-chan?"

Hiroshi grew defensive at the topic, not wanting the rest of the Super Shippers to know. "Trouble? What trouble?"

Takeshi noticed Hiroshi's hesitation. "Don't worry my man! We're the Super Shippers! Your romance is in good hands!"

"Super…Shippers?" Hiroshi asked.

Ryuga huffed. "More like Super Shi—"

"Anyway!" Imite interrupted, glaring at Ryuga at the corner of her eye, "We're here to help you out! Just tell us what you would like to do!"

Hiroshi started feeling more relaxed at his friend's reassurance. "Well, it's not too much trouble, I'm just trying to find the right time to tell her and stuff. But whenever it seems to be the perfect moment, I just freeze up. I wanted to ask Satoshi for his advice, but I can't find him anywhere."

Kenji took mental notes, nodding to himself. "I see. Looks like we have a hopeless case of romance-block, poor soul…"

"Romance-block…? Imite-chan, are you trying to make up words again?"

"Nope, this is an actual case of where the inflicted is unable to convey emotions due to several reasons, including nervousness, anxiety, and fear." Imite explained. Hiroshi seemed convinced. "Besides…that's Takeshi-kun's words, not mine."

"Alrighty then…" Hiroshi sweat-dropped, as did Ryuga and Anji. "A-anyway, how can you guys help me?"

The Super Shippers began formulating ideas to assist Hiroshi. Ryuga was the only one who didn't need to think. "It's kind of obvious. You just have to work out your fe—"

"I got it!" Takeshi cried, "How about we set up a scenario that would help get the words out of Hiroshi! That way, he won't have time to think about something as silly as fear and nervousness! It's perfect!"

Ryuga was astonished. "That has got to be the dumbest idea…no one would go for that…"

"Sounds great!" Everyone else agreed.

The blue mage face-faulted onto the sand. "These people are idiots…!"

"So what kind of scenario do you have planned, Takeshi-kun?" Hiroshi asked.

"Follow me. I know where she is!" Takeshi led everyone else towards the Hinata beach. Ryuga was unfortunate to be dragged by the enthusiastic leader of the Super Shippers.

Ryuga shuddered to think of what was about to happen.

At the Hinata beach house, the place was built as a combination of a stand and a small house, quite large and decently built. The first floor was entirely dedicated to the beach stand, complete with indoor benches, a kitchen towards the back, and tables for people to sit at and eat. There was one additional floor, which was used for bedrooms in case the Hinata girls and Keitaro wanted to stay at the beach for awhile.

In the first floor, the Super Shippers spotted Furuura. She was sitting on one of the benches, taking it easy. She had a yellow bandanna wrapped around her hair while wearing a one piece, baby blue swimsuit.

"Ok Hiroshi, take these and go sit next to her. Offer her this ice cream." Takeshi handed Hiroshi an ice cream cone.

"But what do you have planned?" Hiroshi asked.

"Don't worry about that for now. Leave that for me to work out."

"Uh…sure."

While Hiroshi was walking towards Furuura, Anji tossed the Team Tenshi fighter a curious glance. "So Takeshi-kun, what do you have planned?"

Takeshi had a mischievous glint in his eyes, making Anji nervous. "You'll see…"

As Hiroshi approached his object of desire, he took a deep breath. _'Alright Hiroshi, you can do this. Just do what Takeshi-kun said.'_ He thought to himself.

Furuura turned her head to see Hiroshi walking towards her. "Hiroshi-kun, how are you?"

"I-I'm good. Is this seat taken?"

"No, go ahead."

"Ok." Hiroshi took a seat next to Furuura, feeling nervous from sitting so close to her. "Um…I-I got you some ice cream if you want some…"

"Thank you, Hiroshi-kun." Furuura blushed from Hiroshi's generosity, graciously accepting the frozen treat. The cone was just about to reach Furuura's hands when…

"HEY YOU GUYS!" Takeshi greeted loudly, standing right behind the two.

"AAH!" Furuura jumped, but because of that she started falling off the bench. She reached out and grabbed Hiroshi's arm in order to prevent falling, but took the boy down with her in the process. They shut their eyes immediately, preparing themselves for the fall.

_CRASH!_

The two collapsed over each other on the ground, slightly startled and disorientated. They slowly opened their eyes to notice their _very_ close encounter. Hiroshi was hovering right above Furuura, his arms supporting him up. Their faces were close to immediate contact. A flush of red enveloped the two as they froze in stunned silence. It seemed as though Takeshi's plan was coming together as predicted.

'_Alright Hiroshi, take the shot! You can do this!'_ Hiroshi encouraged himself. Now was as good enough time as any. "Furuura-chan...?" He whispered.

"Y-yes?"

"T-there's something y-you should know…"

Furuura swallowed hard, being overwhelmed with anticipation. Was he going to say…_it_? "What is it?"

Hiroshi's mouth slowly opened. "I…uh…"

"Yes?"

"Um…I…"

"Yes, yes?" Furuura's eyes brightened with hope. Looks like there would be an answer to her silent prayer.

"I…ce cream…on your bathing suit…" Hiroshi faltered. His heart sank as he said those words. He just wasn't ready to come out with it yet.

"Oh…yeah, there is…" Though Furuura felt disappointed, it was more on herself for keeping her hopes too high. Maybe it just wasn't meant to be.

Hiroshi saw the disappointment and felt absolutely terrible. However, he was going to try to make up for it, especially since he probably ruined Furuura's day. "D-don't worry, I-I'll clean it off for you!" In a moment of haste, he started rubbing off the melted ice cream with his hand.

Unfortunately, his hand ran over an area where it shouldn't be.

"EEK!" With a loud cry of shock, Furuura placed her hand on Hiroshi's chest to push him away, except she accidentally used a fire spell out of instinctive defense.

_BOOM!_

Hiroshi was blown a few meters away, landing outside the beach house as a smoldering heap. His body twitched in pain, signifying that he was still alive. "W-why me…?"

"Oh no! I didn't mean to blast him!" Furuura panicked out of fear of doing damage to Hiroshi. "Um…um…! I-I'm gonna go get cleaned up now! Sorry Hiroshi-kun…!" She darted off quickly towards the nearest bathroom.

The Super Shippers, who witnessed the entire scene, was rendered speechless. "…Well…that wasn't so bad…" Takeshi commented.

Ryuga's head slowly turned to look at Takeshi, a look of both amazement and disbelief on his face. "You mean to tell me _that_ was your plan…?" He pointed to the burnt remains of Hiroshi.

Takeshi scratched his head in embarrassment. "Well…I've seen it happen so many times on anime that I thought it would work…on the bright side, at least he got a good feel…"

"YOU'RE THE BIGGEST MORON I'VE EVER MET!" Ryuga roared.

"…And this is why I wanted to sleep in today…" Shuu sighed.

"Um…right, let's move on, shall we?" Imite suggested. The Super Shippers decided to move on, leaving the beach house.

The group moved on a bit further along the beach coast. Their last mission was an utter failure, but hopefully the next one wouldn't end as bad. Imite pointed towards her next target, resting under the shade of a beach umbrella. "Hey Ryu-kun, isn't that girl in your team?"

"Stop calling me that!" Ryuga looked at the white haired girl dressed in a two-piece, dark blue bikini. "Yeah, that's Ayane-chan. Looks like she's still mad."

"Mad about what?"

"That's irrelevant, but there are seriously bad relations between her and Kabu-kun now."

"I suggest we make this another mission for the Super Shippers: To patch up the damaged friendship of Kabushi-san and Ayane-san. It wouldn't hurt to try."

"Yes it will." Anji and Ryuga mumbled.

"Alright, let's go and give it a shot. Ryu-kun, Anji-kun, you coming?"

"Err…no, we'll just stay here and watch you…waaay over there." Ryuga pointed to a spot that was somewhat far off.

"Whatever you say. Let's go guys!" Imite led the charge towards Ayane, while Ryuga and Anji distanced themselves.

10 minutes later…

"Man, I hope they're still alive…" Anji pondered with concern. He and Ryuga were resting on a towel under a tree, feeling relaxed.

"I would feel better." Ryuga huffed.

"We're back!" Imite cheered. She and the other three Super Shippers all had smiles on their faces.

Anji and Ryuga gawked in surprise. "You're ali—I mean, how did it go?" Ryuga changed quickly.

"Well, I'll have to say, I can see why you decided to stay away. Ayane-san can be really violent if you bother her too much." Takeshi said.

"Seems like she's been teased on the subject one too many times." Imite noted.

"I-I wonder why that is…" Ryuga laughed nervously.

"So what happened?" Anji asked.

"We talked to both Kabushi and Ayane about the situation. For the moment, there doesn't seem to be anything we can do but wait for things to cool down." Shuu informed.

"But they were mad when we started going on about how they should kiss and make up…stuff like that. But thankfully, we found a perfect way to not get mauled by them." Imite stated proudly.

Ryuga was surprised and curious. "I'm surprised you actually proved to have a brain, Enemy-san. Do tell us what this secret is."

"It's simple! We just told them that you two told us do it!"

"WHAT!?" Ryuga and Anji screeched. They froze on the spot after feeling intense anger and killing intent permeating the air.

"Ryuga…!"

"Anji…!" Two voices growled.

"Aw…crap…!" The mage and fighter paled. They slowly turned to see the angriest faces they had seen in a long time. Safe to say, Kabushi and Ayane weren't happy with what they heard.

"While you four talk it out, we'll be here for support…waaay over there…" Imite, just as Ryuga had done, pointed far off in the distance. Four of the Super Shippers left the victims to Kabushi and Ayane's furious onslaught.

10 brutal minutes later…

A heavily bruised and injured Ryuga and Anji limped their way towards the Super Shippers at the beach house, who were all too happily enjoying their treats. "So, did you two have fun?" Imite quipped, smiling all too innocently.

Ryuga stumbled in steps as he gave Imite the darkest glare he could muster. "…I…hate…you…"

Anji clearly shared Ryuga's sentiments. "Very clever…remind me to repay you the favor in the future, Imite-san…"

"I'm starting to feel popular…even though I can't say it's a good thing at the moment…" Imite sweat-dropped. She had better watch her back in the future.

"Now, now, let's look for another mission. The day's still young." Takeshi urged.

"Right, we got no time to waste!" Imite marched forward with the Super Shippers in tow. Ryuga and Anji followed, but not without plotting vengeance against their teal haired leader.

While walking, Shuu was making sure to keep a record of the Super Shipper's encounters. "Let's see…we made Hiroshi-san's chances with Furuura-san lower, and we got no where with Team Rocket's crew. What other lives are there left to destroy?"

"Well…we don't know much about Keitaro-san, and he lives with all those girls…lucky bastard…" Takeshi mumbled the last bit to himself, feeling extremely envious.

"I got it!" Imite exclaimed, "We'll see which person is best compatible with Keitaro-san and get them together!"

"That sounds like a great idea! I say we go with that!" Kenji agreed.

"Okay, I think I remember Keitaro-san swimming with Seta-san not too far from here. If we hurry, we might be able to catch." Imite sped off towards the designated area.

There, the group saw Keitaro and Seta swimming back and forth. Apparently, Seta decided to stick with the rest of the group ever since the treasure chest was found. Since he was an archaeologist, his skills would prove useful. Right now, the two were racing laps against each other, Seta taking the lead.

The romance aiding squad decided to wait until the two were finished. Seta had won and the two were walking back to the beach. That was when Imite sprung into action. "Hey, Keitaro-san! Can we talk with you for a moment?"

"Um…sure." The young adult put on his glasses as he walked towards Imite. "What can I help you with?"

"Actually, that should be my line. You see—"

"Step aside, Enemy-san." Ryuga gently pushed Imite off to the side.

"Hey, what gives!?"

"Watch and learn. You might want to take notes." Ryuga faced Keitaro, wearing a complacent expression and a welcoming smile. He spoke with a soft, formal tone. "Keitaro-san, my friends and I have been in a heated debate. You see, some of us have taken a liking to your female staff and were curious on your opinion in order to help us come to a viable decision. If you could, would you please give us some insight as to which female you have the highest preference for, preferably, one that would suit your taste? Keep in mind that the info you provide us will be confidential and only for our survey."

"Oh, well in that case, I'll gladly help you out. To tell you the truth, I like all of them, but I have a spot for Naru-chan. She's a very hard worker and quite level headed. Does that help?"

"Plenty. Thank you for your time." Ryuga finished smoothly. _'Heh, in your face, Enemy-san!'_

Anji grinned widely while the rest of the Super Shippers were both impressed and amazed. "When it comes to smooth talking, no one beats Ryu-kun."

Imite puffed up her cheeks in a pout. "Hmph, he ain't all that special." She walked ahead of the rest, silently fuming.

"Looks like there's some competition for leader. How interesting…" Anji commented to himself. The rest followed Imite towards the beach house, where the girls were working the stand.

At the location, they could see Narusegawa serving several customers. She, much like the others, had on swimwear, a yellow two piece to be exact. Motoko and Mitsune were taking a break, the both of them wearing sexy red and blue two piece bikinis respectively. The rest weren't to be found since they were in the kitchen.

Anji whistled as the sight. "I knew these girls were good with service, but not THIS good!"

"They can serve me any day of the week!" Takeshi beamed.

"Enough of that boys, let's get to work on Naru-san." Imite sighed. Boys had such a weak hold on their hormones…

"Enemy-san has a point. Let's cut to the chase." Ryuga started walking to Naru, set on showing off in front of Imite and the others.

"He's a show off, but at least he has sense, unlike _some_ boys." She tossed a small glare at the rest of the Super Shippers, who either shrugged or smiled nervously.

Ryuga was moments from speaking with Naru when he froze stiff. He had an alert look on his face. "My Ryuga-senses are tingling…"

"Ryuga-senses…what are you talking about?" Imite asked.

"Oh god no…not here…" Anji groaned. It was coming…

"Naru-sempai, is the next order ready?" Shinobu asked, peering out of the kitchen.

Ryuga gasped upon sighting Shinobu. The small girl wore a light blue one-piece, coupled together by a cute cooking skirt and apron. Su also appeared next to Shinobu, wearing a yellow bathing suit and a small scarf wrapping over her blonde her. The young teen released a small, yet girlish squeal, frightening the Super Shippers and causing Anji and pale in embarrassment. "So…cute…!"

_WHOOSH!_

Anyone close to Ryuga's path could've sworn a strong gale swept by them as the cute-crazed mage rushed to Shinobu and Su. He had what Shinobu had to consider the starriest eyes she had ever seen. She was beyond shocked when the maniac of a wizard embraced both of them. "You two look so adorable! Such splendor, so much cuteness! I absolutely love it!" Ryuga was in heaven while the two victims were in fear and confusion.

_SMACK!_

"Dammit Ryu-kun! They're little kids for crying out loud! Regain your sanity!" Anji chastised, punching Ryuga roughly over the head.

Ryuga dropped to the ground from the hit, releasing the two girls. As they jumped away from the blue haired Team Rocket member, he weakly reached out to them. "Too…adorable…!"

Poor Shinobu hid behind Motoko's leg, joined up with Su. "H-h-he's scary…" She stuttered. Su could only nod in agreement.

"What going on here?" Motoko demanded, brandishing her sword.

Anji faced Motoko, and after a small paused, fixed himself up and smiled in a suave manner. "I'm feeling a little starved for attention. I would feel better with some of your affection." He spoke huskily, stepping closer to Motoko.

_CRACK!_

Motoko smashed her sword over Anji's head, but it didn't even faze the fighter. "Good, that's good. I like it rough…" Anji smirked.

"Alright, that's enough you two!" Imite demanded. Takeshi and Imite started dragging Anji and Ryuga away from the beach house, the two boys releasing dramatic tears of despair.

"We'll miss you…!" They cried.

A large sweat-drop formed on Motoko's head. "…That's it, I'm not agreeing to have anymore guest at the Hinata…"

Outside, Ryuga and Anji were dropped unceremoniously on the sand. Anji was the first to recover. "You didn't have to be so rough, you know…"

"Hmph, how unforgivable! You took me away from those cute little girls!" Ryuga complained.

"You sound like a freaking pedophile! Stop acting like a lunatic whenever you see something cute!" Anji reprimanded.

"You should talk! Don't think I didn't catch that little maneuver you pulled with Motoko-san!"

"I was merely trying to have a small _chat_ with Motoko-chan. You're the one who looked like he was molesting small children! You're going to get arrested one day…"

"CUT IT OUT!!" Imite bellowed. The two immediately stopped fighting, fearing Imite's angry stare. "Because of you two, we failed in another mission! There's no way Naru-san's going to talk with us now! Now come on, we have to look for yet another mission!" She stormed off towards a random direction.

"…What's her problem?" Anji questioned.

"…Probably that time of the month…" Ryuga guessed.

"I HEARD THAT!" Imite yelled. The two boys jumped at the yell, slowly following Imite at a distance.

The rest of the Super Shippers had odd looks on their faces. "…Those two guys…they're every definition of the word freak…" Kenji commented. The other two nodded in agreement.

So far, the completion of the Super Shipper's mission seemed to be harder and harder to accomplish. Hiroshi and Furuura was a failure, they got no where Kabushi and Ayane, and they made a fool of themselves in front of Narusegawa. So far, the Super Shippers were nothing more than a band of troublemakers. However, Imite still kept her hopes high for the squad. "Okay gang, I see our next objective right over yonder!"

Kenji and Shuu followed with their eyes, only to gasp. "You've got to be kidding…!" The two breathed incredulously. Ahead of the group was a volleyball court set up into the water for water polo. There, Kojiro, Kosaburo, Musashi and Yamato were playing a fierce game against each other. The ball was pounded with such force that it was surprising it didn't burst upon contact.

Shuu was quick to object. "You're talking about the two most competitive rival teams in the school! There's no way you can make it work!"

Kenji was also inclined to agree. "He's right! Trust me, you're mixing oil and fire here! If I was even to hint the name of their rivals, they would attack me for it!"

"It's too much of a challenge! Maybe we should just take an easier group to pair up…" Takeshi reasoned.

"No way! I'm not going to give up without trying! Watch and see my imminent victory!" With her fist of courage raised, Imite marched into the water towards the rivaling teams.

"Hey, Musashi-chan, someone's heading this way!" Yamato informed, hitting the ball over the net.

"What? Who?" Musashi glanced behind to see Imite heading their direction. "Hey little girl, you better leave or else—" She was cut off by the sound of Kojiro's voice as he rose into the air, preparing to strike the ball.

"Kojiro Special: Mega Spike of death!"

_SLAM! WHOOSH!_

Musashi barely reacted in time to avoid the insanely fast spike shot done by Kojiro. However, Imite was in its direct line of fire and only had the chance to see the ball coming.

_BAM!_

The ball careened with Imite's face and bounced off. The female ninja fell backwards into the water with a splash. She was knocked unconscious by the powerful strike.

"IMITE-CHAN!" Kenji, Shuu and Takeshi cried. They were suddenly taken back by a rush of wind passing by them.

It was Anji and Ryuga.

Ryuga stopped right in front of the water as Anji took a dive in. A few seconds past before Anji burst out of the water with Imite's unconscious body. He walked towards Ryuga and extended the girl towards him. "Go and do your thing."

Ryuga looked down at the girl, then at Anji. "But…my clothes will get wet…"

"Ryu-kun!"

"Okay, okay! I'll take her!" Ryuga grasped the girl and placed her on the ground.

The rival teams stopped their game to watch the scene before. The Super Shippers watched in suspense as Ryuga knelt next to Imite's body. Ryuga gently clasped his hands together and closed his eyes. "Oh Kami-sama…may her soul rest in peace…"

Anji fell in a face-fault. "DAMMIT RYUGA, STOP PLAYING AND SAVE HER!!"

"I'm just joking, calm down." Ryuga reassured. _'Well…half-playing anyway…'_ He leaned his head against the girl's heart to see if she was breathing. "Just as I feared, she might've swallowed sea water when she fell unconscious. We'll have to get out the water and give her air." One look from the Super Shippers, and the message was clear. "Hell. No."

"Oh come on, it wouldn't be that bad! We're trying to save her life! Please save her, Ryuga-san!" Kenji pleaded.

"Get over your hatred for Imite-san and save her life. It's the honorable thing to do." Shuu said.

"I'd rather drown." Ryuga stated flatly.

"Please?" Takeshi requested.

"No."

"Come on…" Kenji whined.

"No."

"Forget your pride and just do it." Shuu demanded.

"No."

"Say Ryu-kun, are those real freckles on her face?" Anji pointed out of the blue, causing everyone to face-fault. How random could someone be?

"Hm? I don't see what that has to do with this situation, but I'll check." Ryuga leaned close to Imite's face. "Hmm…wait a second…I don't see any freck—MMPH!" His eyes widened in horror. Anji's foot pressed on his back, forcing Ryuga's lips to enclose over Imite's.

The Super Shippers, stunned by this act, could only murmur a single word. "…Nice…"

"Alright Ryu-kun, just like we were taught in class." Anji instructed with an evil smirk. Plotting sweet vengeance, Ryuga was forced to perform CPR on his worst enemy. After a few tries, Imite coughed up sea water, signaling that she was going to be okay, though she was still unconscious. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief…all except Ryuga, who was knelt over and away from Imite. "Well, I'm glad everything turned out okay. It's all thanks to you, Ryu-kun!"

Ryuga slowly stood on his feet, his back facing Anji. "…Why…" He suddenly wiped around, a sea of tears streaming down his face. "WHY THE HELL DID YOU MAKE ME DO THAT!?"

"It's because you deserve it for acting like a big shot in front of her."

"That is no excuse! Now my lips are forever tainted by that…that…that evil woman! I was saving them for a super cute woman of my dreams…not this demon of a nightmare!"

Anji ignored him as he lifted Imite and cradled her in his arms. "Alright guys, nothing more to see here! Let's get going." She started walking ahead, Ryuga quickly trying to catch up.

"Hey, I'm not done talking!"

"Shut up and think for a second." Anji whispered harshly, enough so only Ryuga could hear. "Remember, you just saved her life. She's going to owe you big time. You can use that to your advantage. I would've expected you to realize that."

Ryuga blinked a few times, never before realizing that idea. "That's pretty good. I never thought of that. But still…at the cost of my once pure lips…oh woe's my precious lips…"

"Save the melodramatic speech for when she wakes up. Here." Anji passed Imite to Ryuga, who reluctantly carried her. "Let's sit in a place where there's shade and we can talk privately. There's something I would like to discuss."

"Okay." Ryuga nodded. Anji was certainly a very unpredictable person. It made him wonder what the martial artist had planned.

The two took refuge next to the beach house, positioned in a shaded spot. Upon Anji's request, Ryuga had Imite's head rest on his lap. Ryuga didn't like this in the least. "And why is it I have to do this again…?"

"It'll add more weapons to your arsenal. Girls can't resist guys who saved their lives. It's like, some sort of unwritten law."

"Well you know what? The law sucks. Why don't we break those laws like we always did?"

"Because you can use it to your advantage. Besides, we can give people more fan service."

"Yeah, because we always seem to be lacking in that area." Ryuga said sardonically, rolling his eyes. "Anyway, what was it you wanted to talk about?"

"It's about that treasure chest we found in those ruins. No one's talked about it ever since Ibuki-sensei took custody of its investigation; however, I'm almost positive they're curious. Aren't you as well?"

"Well…come to think of it, there's no word on what it is. It could be something powerful that Saito-sama can use."

"Correct, which is why I think we should take a sneak peek, let's say…later tonight?"

"Sounds like a plan. I wish we could get Ayane-chan to help us out, but those two are still mad."

"Speaking of girls, place your arms around Imite-san. That way, it would look like you actually care."

With a growl, Ryuga wrapped Imite in a semi-hug, making sure to toss Anji a dirty look. "…You're enjoying my internal suffering, aren't you?"

"It's a bonus." Anji grinned.

"Sometimes…I can really learn to hate you…"

"Yes, yes, I'm quite aware of that. I don't know how long it will be until she wakes up, so you might as well get some rest."

"How? I can't move if she's like this!" The expression on Anji's face confirmed Ryuga's horror. "What…the hell…is wrong with you …? You actually want me to sleep here!?"

"It's not that big of a deal. It'll add to the effect. Trust me; I know what I'm talking about."

"Fine, fine, but if this doesn't work, I'll haunt you for life."

"And if it does work, you'll be thanking me."

"Tch." Ryuga released a tired yawn, fatigued from today's chaos. "This whole day was exhausting. I think I'll get some rest…" Ryuga leaned back against the beach house wall and closed his eyes, falling asleep. He unconsciously pulled Imite up so her head would rest on his chest. Imite also made herself comfortable.

"Heh, good thing I brought this. I knew this would come in handy." Anji took out a disposable camera and started taking shots. Good thing it was waterproof. "Well, now that that's done, time to get to work. Heh, rest well, Ryu-kun. You're gonna need it." The fighter stood up and left the shaded spot.

A half hour later, Anji headed towards a spot where he saw Takeshi, Kenji and Shuu gathered. Once they saw Anji, the three rushed to him. "How's Imite-chan? Will she be alright?" Takeshi asked, worry written all over his face.

"Yes. Ryu-kun is taking care of the situation. But for now, let's continue looking for missions."

The remaining Super Shippers were surprised. "But Imite-chan's not here. Shouldn't we wait for her and Ryu-kun?" Kenji asked.

"No need. This will be a good mission to go by. Now tell me, haven't you noticed a certain team missing that's currently on the beach?" Anji gave time for them to think, until they realized what Anji was getting at. "Correct. Team Tatsujin has been missing this entire time."

"Of course, why didn't I think of it before? They are the embodiment of romance potential! We should go look for them." Takeshi said.

"I agree, which is why we should split up on teams. Takeshi-kun and I will search in one direction while you two go in another. I will send a little helper to tell Ryu-kun and Imite-chan what we're going to do." Anji took out a Pokéball and released the Pokémon inside the sand.

The Sharpedo popped his head out of the sand to greet Anji. "What can I do for ya?"

"Meizu-kun, I need you to relay a message to Ryu-kun and Imite-chan for me. Tell them that we're looking for Team Tatsujin and he should too."

"You got it!" Meizu dug into the rough sand and started heading towards the destination while everyone else left to seek out Team Tatsujin.

"Mmm…" Imite purred blissfully, slowly regaining her consciousness. When she opened her eyes, all she could see was blue fabric. But, who would be crazy enough to wear something like that to a beach? She was quickly reminded about being knocked unconscious and drowning when her head started to throb. "Ooh…my head…" She nuzzled her head into the fabric, smelling something strangely sweet. Perhaps a flower? _'Wait a minute…these clothes…!'_ Her eyes widened when she glanced up into Ryuga's bored yellow eyes.

And thus she paled.

'_Here we go…'_ Ryuga sighed mentally.

"EEEK!" Imite jumped out of Ryuga's embrace, in a world of panic and discord. "W-w-w-w-what's going on!? Why were you holding me!?"

The mage gave Imite a dull look. "…What, no thanks for saving your wretched, hair destroying life?"

"Huh?" Imite blinked several times. "You…saved…me?"

"Correct."

There was a stunned silence. "…You know, me, as in Enemy-san? Hair wrecking woman?"

"There's no other."

"But…why?"

"Do I need a reason to save your life? Enemy or not, I don't want to watch someone die in front of me." Ryuga huffed and faced away. "Or…do you prefer I let you die…?" He asked hauntingly, glancing at her from the corner of his eye.

Imite scratched her head in embarrassment. "No, no, no, I didn't mean to come out like that! It's just that…well…no one has really been that nice to me before, and with you doing that, it just took me by surprise…"

"Don't expect an encore."

She remembered the position she woke up in. "Did…you let me rest on the entire time?"

"Pretty much. I could've just gone by my business, but no, you had to sleep it away on me."

"Oh…um…I-I really don't know what to say...Ryu-kun…I—"

_POOF!_

"WAAA!" Imite fell back in surprise when Meizu's head popped out of the sand suddenly.

"Yo, Ryu-kun! I got a message from Anji-kun! He says to go look for Team Tatsujin for another mission! The rest of the gang is on the case as well."

"Got it. Tell Anji we're on the way."

"You got it." Meizu popped back into the ground, tunneling his way back.

"Lead the way, Enemy-san."

"Um…okay." After recomposing herself, she and Ryuga headed off in a direction in search for the lost members of Team Tatsujin.

They had walked for over 10 minutes without a word uttered to each other. Imite was starting to feel tense from the awkward silence. Before, she wouldn't have even cared, but Ryuga, the one guy who hated her, saved her life. Sadly, she hadn't even thanked him yet. Ryuga's silence and change of attitude was also starting to worry her. Did something happen when she was unconscious? What if Ryuga was mad at her for seeming ungrateful for his unexpected rescue?

Imite had opened her mouth to say something when the two heard the chatter of two people nearby. "I think that's them behind the rocks…" She whispered, pointing to a series of rock formations along the coast of the beach. She motioned Ryuga to follow her stealthily behind a large rock. Peering over, the two could see Satoshi and Shigeru speaking with each other, and hear every word.

With Satoshi, he was being informed about the situation that Shigeru, Kaisuke and Ibuki talked about. The possible outcome was frightening. "So we might go to war with Ivalice?" Satoshi asked.

Shigeru nodded. "That's right. We don't have solid proof, but even Kaisuke suspects Ivalice may take action against us. That's why I have to teach you the family's secret in order to boost our chances of survival."

"Family secret? That sounds really cool!" Satoshi piped.

"It is, but first, I'll have to introduce you to a few concepts relating to that topic. It's time for you to learn about the sacred limits."

"The sacred limits? They never thought us that in class before."

"That's because you aren't suppose to. It's not something that is encouraged for students to learn. Abusing the power of the limits could be very catastrophic. Releasing limits cause a surge of hidden talent to explode from every cell in your body, having various effects depending on the user. There are currently three sacred limits known. The first one is the Gene Seal, or rather a GS limit. Everyone's genes have a different signature. Each signature corresponds with their ability. Though powerful, it can only be used for a short amount of time. The second is known as the Bloodline Seal, also known as BS limit. It's more of a hereditary ability than a unique one like GS limit. It's very rare, but contains very special properties and isn't nearly as hard to activate. The last one is a very dangerous one, quite possibly the most devastating limit. The Curse Seal limit."

"The name alone sounds bad. What makes it so dangerous?"

"The Curse Seal, or if you prefer, CS, isn't very well understood, but it grants power that's greater than the other two limits. The CS limit feeds off the negativity of someone's heart and expands on it. The strength is equal to the intensity of a person's pain, suffering, anger, hatred, and other such emotions. Someone affected by the CS will start to slowly lose himself and be consumed by the emotion that the seal is influencing. In other words, the power of the seal can give that person almost limitless power at the cost of his heart."

"That's terrible…" Satoshi felt his heart sink at the thought. He didn't want any such power like that. But somehow…it reminded him of something. He just needed to be sure. "Are there signs of someone having the Curse Seal?"

"Actually, besides a drastic change in behavior, their skin color will slowly start changing pitch black. The darker their skin is, the worse the situation is. When their skin is all black, that means they have attained the full power of the seal, as well as lost their hearts to the seal."

Satoshi's mind flashed back to his meeting with Yuuki. Just like Shigeru described, Yuuki had those black markings. Vash also showed such symptoms. Did this mean Yuuki possessed the power of the Curse Seal? If so, that would explain a lot, but also bring up a lot of questions. Now more than ever he needed to find Yuuki again. "So what does all of this have to do with me?"

"Everything. It wouldn't be easy to teach you this at the school, especially since it's illegal to teach and use the limits on school grounds. Satoshi…what I'm about to teach you is a very powerful and dangerous thing, and it shouldn't be taken lightly. You have to promise me that you won't tell anyone that you've learned what I'm about to teach you."

"Not even Kasumi or Leo?"

"Not even them. Very bad things will happen if the school realizes that you can break your limit. We can't risk them knowing. Promise me, Satoshi."

Satoshi was surprised with how serious Shigeru looked. "Sure, I promise. It'll just be between us."

"Good. Let's get started on it now."

With the two eavesdroppers, one was surprised while the other was curious and confused. Ryuga thumbed his chin thoughtfully. _'How does Shigeru-san know about the CS limit? Saito-sama told me no one was supposed to know about it. People who were involved with the CS had the possibility of being consumed by the thought of obtaining that power. What kind of connections could Shigeru-san have…or…is it something else…? Saito-sama definitely has to know about Shigeru-san's involvement and knowledge.'_ The pressing thought caused his hand, which was resting on Imite's back, to tighten. This caused Imite to give a muffled gasp.

"Who's there!?" Shigeru's hand quickly went on his sword as he dashed towards the rock.

'_Dammit!'_ Ryuga cursed mentally. Stupid Enemy-san. He knew exactly what Shigeru was going to with that sword, especially if he and Imite were discovered spying. He swiftly grabbed Imite, only having time to deliver a quick, three word message. "Play-or-die…!"

_SLASH!_

The rock Imite and Ryuga were hiding behind was split in half, leaving the two exposed.

However, what Shigeru and Satoshi saw was certainly something he didn't expect.

"Ooh Ryu-kun…right there…!" Imite moaned lightly, lying on the sand under Ryuga. Ryuga's face was hidden in her neck, his hands running up her sides while hers were inside his rob, stroking his chest. Had Shigeru looked closely, he would be able to see Ryuga's mouth less than an inch away from Imite's neck, whispering directions.

The two stopped momentarily and glanced at the two jaw-dropped teens. "Do you mind? We had this spot first!" The two shot simultaneously.

"Oh…erm…sorry about that! I just wasn't expecting someone else here…especially you two…" Shigeru sweat-dropped.

Ryuga released a dramatic sigh, flicking his hair and moving off a flushed Imite. "I'd hoped no one would discover our precious secret. If you could, please don't tell anyone of us. Our love would be compromised should our teammates find out."

"True. My bad, we'll leave you two to your thing. Just be sure not to do something too extreme. We don't want any little Ryugas and Imites running around the school campus."

"Ahahaha, don't worry about that. We'll be careful!" Ryuga said with a smile on his face.

"Okay you kids, see ya. Let's go Satoshi!" Shigeru walked ahead with Satoshi in tow, mumbling 'Bizarre…' to himself. Once the two were well out of view…

"Ack! Oh my GOD! The horror of those words…! I'm scarred for life by the mere thought!" Ryuga choked, gagging from the mere imagery.

"Um…Ryu-kun…can I ask you a simple question…?" Imite asked hesitantly.

"Hm? What is it?"

Imite took a deep breath. "WHAT WAS THAT ALL ABOUT!?"

"For your information, what we heard was extremely top secret. Were we to get caught, that would've spelled trouble. I had to do something that would dissuade him from knowing that we overheard their conversation. We had to be _'convincing'_."

Imite tossed Ryuga a sly look. "I bet you just wanted to feel me up, didn't you?"

Ryuga gave Imite a flat stare. "You can't feel what's not there, that includes your sex appeal."

"Hey, I have plenty of sex appeal!"

Ryuga released a dignified huff and flick his hair. "Your only competition in the zero-or-less category is Kasumi-san, but at least she's cute, unlike a fear factor such as you."

Imite crossed her arms and whirled around, pouting irritably. "At least I have better hair…"

"Ah…!" Ryuga stepped back, gasping sharply at the insult. "How…DARE you insult my hair, you uncultured heathen! My hair is a blessing of the gods! You shall not talk about my hair that way!"

"I can talk about it any way I wish! As a matter of fact…" Imite slipped behind a rock. A second later, she emerged, looking exactly like Ryuga. "Look at me, I'm pretty boy Ryuga! I have no life except my hair, and I'm fashionably inferior to Imite-chan!" She cheered in Ryuga's voice. The copy ninja dropped the disguise, as did Ryuga's jaw.

"You…why you little…!" Ryuga was livid; enough that he could barely manage a sentence. How dare that girl imitate him so ridiculously? There was only one way to even the odds. "Well, you know what? …You have giant eyebrows!" He whirled around and huffed defiantly, crossing his arms. Yeah, smooth.

"Giant…eyebrows…?" Imite repeated slowly.

"That's right!" Ryuga peered over his shoulder, only to pale in fear.

"TAKE THAT BACK!" Imite roared furiously, lunging after him.

_CRASH!_

"ACK! SOMEONE HELP! I'M BEING ATTACKED BY A RAGING ANIMAL!" Ryuga cried, wrestling with an angered Imite, who was currently trying to strangle the poor mage.

"I'M GONNA KILL YOU!!" The two started rolling all over the coast, one trying to live while the other attempting murder.

Elsewhere, Anji and Takeshi had taken another route. This path led to an area on the corner of the beach, resembling an ancient, Romanian stage. The two had been trekking for over 20 minutes, with no signs of Team Tatsujin anywhere.

"Man, there's still no sign of anyone. I'm starting to think they left the beach." Takeshi groaned.

"Don't give up yet. Let's just check over that spot first." Anji couldn't help but grow even more curious as he searched for Team Tatsujin's whereabouts. Why would they go so out of their way to remain hidden? Could there be some hidden agenda that has to remain a secret? There were a million possibilities, but they were all just guesses. He had to make absolute sure.

Takeshi suddenly stopped in his tracks. "Wait a second…my Takeshi-senses are tingling…"

Anji slapped his hand to his forehead, shaking it shamefully. "Geez, not you too…!"

The two fighters moved forward swiftly, crouching behind a thick piece of wall. Peering over, they were met with a sight for sore eyes. Both Sakura and Kasumi were bathing in an onsen. "…Nice…!" The two whispered to themselves.

Anji turned to Takeshi, raising an eyebrow. "Does it really make sense to have an onsen located on a beach?" He whispered.

Takeshi didn't take his eyes off the girls, but remained inconspicuous. "As long as naked girls are in it, who cares about logic!"

"…Good argument." And thus, Anji said no more on the matter as the two started listening in.

Sakura and Kasumi were engaged in a serious conversation. The older sister, just like Shigeru, explained the dangers that would be approaching the upcoming months. Kasumi didn't realize there was such a chance of dangers, but believed her sister's words. "So you see, that's the reason I brought you here. It'll be nothing but tough times after our vacation, so we shall relax for the time being. However, there's something I have to do here before heading back."

"What's that?"

"It's an ancient family secret that's been passed down for many generations, a bloodline seal. With it, you should be able to help Arcadia during the war time and be an even better fighter. But, there's something I need you to do first…" Sakura leaned back against her seat, casting a wistful stare out into the ocean. "Tell me, what do you think of Satoshi-kun?"

"Not this again…" Kasumi groaned irritably, "He's a pretty decent guy I guess. Really stubborn and dumb, but has some good points. That's about it, really."

"…Isn't it time you stop beating around the bush and just go for it?"

"Huh? What are you—"

"What are you afraid of? Are you still hooked on that little self-declaration you made so many years ago?"

"I…" Kasumi tried to find the right words to express how she felt, but failed, "…don't know…I really don't know…" She closed her eyes and released a despairing sigh. Sakura waited patiently for Kasumi to elaborate. "Maybe I am just beating around the bush, or perhaps I could be losing out on something fantastic. But…I don't feel ready. I'm not confident enough to step up to such a thing. I was using my anger towards boys as an excuse to escape, but each time I try...no matter how hard I try…Satoshi always does something that gets my attention. I just don't know what to do anymore. I'm not ready, but I can't just ignore it either. I just feel so lost…"

"I see…" Sakura faced the downtrodden Kasumi, concerned for her younger sister. "Let me ask you this: Do you feel Satoshi-kun is worth the effort?"

"Yeah. I wouldn't be this stressed otherwise." Kasumi answered with a tired tone.

"Then you're well on your way to finding your answer." Sakura noticed Kasumi's confusion and decided to continue, "If you feel that Satoshi-kun is special enough to be worth the headaches, doesn't that mean you have an idea of how you feel about him?"

"…Maybe…"

"If you're this far, then you're talking to the wrong person about this."

Kasumi grew curious. "Who else could I possibly talk to about this subject other than you?"

"It's simple. In order to get to the bottom of a situation, you have to go to the source. You'll have to talk to Satoshi-kun."

"What!? There's no way I can do that!"

"Why not?"

"HE'S the reason for this mess! If I just go waltzing up to him about the subject, it'll just make things weird and awkward between us."

"But didn't you say he was worth the headache? Is he not important to you?"

"Of course he is, but…"

"I'm not saying right this instant, but it has to be before we leave. Try to do it as soon as you can."

"Why so early, Sakura-chan?"

"I have my reasons. What I can do to help you will only work once you found your resolve. Once you have the answers you're looking for, come talk to me again. Don't forget, before we leave for Arcadia, you have to talk to him and find your answer."

"But I'm not…"

"Promise?"

"I can't just…"

"Promise me." Sakura extended her pinky to Kasumi.

"Sakura-chan…please don't make me do this…"

"Trust me, everything will be fine. Just be yourself and be honest. I'm certain it'll work out once you talk to him. Please promise me, before the end of the vacation, you will have a heart to heart conversation with him. Big sister, little sister promise?"

Kasumi paused for a beat, staring at the pinky. She reluctantly entwined her pinky with Sakura's. "Okay…big sister, little sister promise…"

"Good!" Sakura beamed. _'This will be helpful in order for her to realize her true talents. She has to realize her own feelings and stand on her own two feet. To care and have resolve, that's the first step into unlocking the bloodline seal. I have faith in you, Kasumi-chan…'_ She thought kindly.

With Anji and Takeshi, they were quite taken with the conversation the two sisters just finished. _'I see…so Team Tatsujin separated in order to unlock their hidden abilities. If what Saito-sama told me is true, then this could either aid in our plans, or destroy them. I'll have to see what master thinks of this situation.'_ Anji considered. While there was evidence that Kasumi was to be with Satoshi, Anji had accomplished his hidden agenda to seeking Team Tatsujin, discovering their plans.

"Hey, Anji-kun, I think we should get out of here soon. It looks like the girls are wrapping it up." Takeshi warned. Anji nodded and the two turned around to leave, only to freeze in mid-motion.

Ayane gave the boys a fierce glare. "Are you two at it AGAIN!?"

"Eep…! Ayane-chan, w-w-what a pleasant surprise…!" Anji greeted weakly.

"Err…right, what he said." Takeshi said, too afraid to think of anything else.

"I better hear a good explanation for this!" Ayane twirled a pair of kunais between her fingers.

If Anji thought they were in enough trouble, two VERY angry eyes practically drilled holes into their backs. Kasumi and Sakura spotted them, and were even angrier than Ayane. "I don't think that'll be necessary. We'll just BEAT it out of them!" Sakura and Kasumi cracked their knuckles and smirked evilly.

"…We're boned…" Anji and Takeshi braced themselves for the vicious beating soon to follow.

On an isolated part of the beach, Shuu and Kenji used their ninja skills to determine the zone were Team Tatsujin. They arrived at a path leading past some cliffs. It was there the two ninjas heard the sounds of fighting and clashing. Worried, they quickly, yet stealthily, went past the base of the cliff to see a surprising sight.

_CLASH! CLASH! CLASH!_

Haruka and Kaisuke exchanged bladed clashes as Haruka's Element Buster countered Kaisuke's broadsword. "Again!" Kaisuke called, lunging after Haruka. The mage curled her fist and thrust it into the ground. Large amounts of sand exploded into the air, enveloping Haruka and Kaisuke. More clashing sounds could be heard, but the ninjas were unable to see what was going on. The sand settled and Haruka was in crouched position, weakened and exhausted. Kaisuke remained on his feet, obviously the victor of the skirmish.

"Let's take a break." Kaisuke suggested. Haruka agreed and sat down, as did Kaisuke. The sandy haired alter ego of Leo had a transfixed stare on Haruka, showing great signs of concern. "Are you still lacking your voice?" Haruka nodded, which brought a frown to his face. "It's truly tragic. I apologize that Leo and I couldn't do more to assist you."

"…" Haruka made the notion that she appreciated Kaisuke's assistance. A thought occurred to her about Leo and Kaisuke, which she asked by tracing it on Kaisuke's hand.

"…I see, so you're wondering why it is me that's here and not Leo. While we do share each other's conscious mind, we do not hold the same memories and specialties. I happen to excel with the blade and alchemic attacks while Leo is excellent with alchemic and magical knowledge. We discussed this previously and have decided to take turns to teach you what we know. Today I will teach you new attacks to use with those alchemic gloves and the way of the sword. This will be crucial in the upcoming war." Haruka nodded, remembering what she was informed earlier on about.

Kaisuke could tell there was something troubling her from within. It had been there for months, but it remained dormant. "…You still miss your friend, Yuuki, don't you?"

"…" Haruka cast her gaze on the floor in front of her, sadly reminded that her best friend and teammate had ran from them so long ago. Maybe he really wasn't going to comeback to them…to her…

"Please do not despair, for you are not alone in your endeavor. I too am missing precious people close to me." Kaisuke noticed Haruka's attention and curiosity. "Keep what I'm about to say between us, for I do not want any chance to compromise my suspicions. The truth is that Leo's family in Ivalice isn't his true family. He doesn't remember it, but years ago, our family was killed by an army of ghost Pokémon. We were placed in an orphanage, soon picked up by the famous Reiko family of Hoenn. However, I've come to learn that there may be a chance that Leo's siblings may still be alive. In our family, we were the youngest, and we had an older brother and sister. After a day of pondering, I have come to the conclusion that our brother and sister are indeed alive. Not only that, but they're all here on this very land." Haruka leaned forward with wide eyes, surprised with the news. It was definitely great news for Kaisuke. Kaisuke smiled. "Yes, it is good news, at least I hope so. Now that I think about it, I know exactly who they are. The trick is that we all share a very similar trait. It should be easy to pick out once you catch on." His yellow eyes stole a glance at his side. "Speaking of catch…" He slowly raised his hand, powering it with alchemic energy…

"I have a bad feeling about this…!" Kenji whispered to Shuu, slowly backing away.

"Did he see us…? How could that be?" Shuu was about to escape with Kenji when the sand trapped their feet, preventing escape. "Damn, we're trapped!" He was about to form a symbol when more sand trapped his hands. Kenji was in the same situation.

"Looks like I caught a couple of spies." Kaisuke said, brandishing his sword.

"I'm too young to die!" Kenji cried.

"Sissy…" Shuu scoffed.

Kaisuke's face grew dead serious, enough to scare the two ninjas. "Listen, you two have heard dangerous information. Under normal circumstances, I would've killed you two right off. However, given you are my allies, I would like to strike a deal: Do what I say, and you two will leave here in one piece. You will not only keep what you heard a secret, but should I need your assistance, you will do what you can. Is that understood?"

"Pfft, yeah right! What are you going to do?" Shuu spat coolly, trying to play tough.

Kaisuke sighed. "Haruka…would you please go around that corner for a moment. There are some things you should never hear or see, and this is one of them." Haruka nodded and went towards the designated location.

A few minutes later, Haruka was recalled to meet Kaisuke. "Haruka, I would like you to meet our new assistants. Isn't that right Kenji and Shuu?"

The two looked deathly pale, seeing horrors that would forever leave their mark. "Yes sir!" The two shouted in unison.

"Splendid! Now, let's get started. Haruka, these two will be sparring with us." Kaisuke and Haruka drew their weapons, preparing to have a long series of practice battles.

"…Man, this sucks!" Kenji and Shuu groaned.

It was close to evening time when the Super Shippers gathering in front of the beach house. Ryuga and Imite were covered with dirt and sand, the mage having a few scratches and bruises. They were first to arrive at the spot. Ryuga was fuming, but for only one reason. "My clothes and hair are ruined! Ruined I tell you!"

Imite rubbed her temples tenderly, getting a migraine from Ryuga's whining. "I never knew you could be such a pest…! That's the 50th time you've said that. Shut up already!"

"If you didn't try to molest me, I wouldn't be complaining, now would I?"

Imite's hands formed claws, as though she was wringing Ryuga's neck. "Excuse me…!? You're the one who had me on the ground!"

Ryuga gave Imite a sly look from the corner of his eye. "From what I remembered, you were so scared that you pulled me onto you, trying to have your way with me. I am shocked and appalled with your hormonal actions."

"Grr…!" The imitating ninja was about to slay the annoying magician when she and Ryuga saw Takeshi and Anji walking towards them. Well, more like limping towards them.

"Anji-kun! What happened!? You two looked like hell chewed you up and spit you out!" Ryuga pointed out.

"Well…we went to find Team Tatsujin…and well…one thing led to another…then pain…then more pain…and…yeah…" Anji explained vaguely.

"I just wish I knew ahead of time about Ayane-san's skill with those kunais…" Takeshi groaned painfully, rubbing his lower back.

"…Ouch…" Ryuga winced. Already, he could tell what happened. "So…where are the other two?"

"Over here…" Shuu spoke weakly. Kenji fell to the ground while Shuu crouched, both exhausted from continuous training with Haruka and Kaisuke.

"What happened with you two? Did you find Team Tatsujin?" Imite asked.

Remembering their encounter with Kaisuke, they knew the answer they had to give. "No, we didn't. And about what happened…don't ask." The two answered.

"Well, today was a bunch of crap! All we did was get beat up and made everything worse! We're not Super Shippers, we're Super Crappers!" Ryuga yelled in frustration.

"Stop talking like that. Just because one day turned out to be a mess doesn't mean we're total screw ups. We'll just try harder next time." Anji reassured.

"There's a next time?"

"Of course. I have a plan. Remember, this week is special for a reason. In order to at least determine romantic possibilities."

"Really? What's the plan?" Imite asked.

"Simple. Later tonight, we'll observe."

"……And?"

"…That's it. We'll just sit and watch."

"What's that going to accomplish?" Kenji asked.

"I think…I see where he's going." Shuu said, leaning against the house with his arms crossed.

"Chances are, you called right. Rather than trying to get people together right away, we should await to see the best compatibility, wait for the perfect opportunity, and then strike quickly and smoothly. We've been going at it wrong this whole time. Rather than come out in the open, we need to be shadows working behind the scenes." Anji explained.

"I never thought of it that way before. Great thinking, Anji-kun!" Imite praised, but then gave Ryuga a sly stare. "That's a lot better than a certain mage…"

"I will get you for this…" Ryuga growled, irritation evident on his face.

"So that's the plan. When the Ocean Moon rises, we lurk in the shadows. Imite-san, you stick with Takeshi-kun. Kenji-kun, Shuu-kun, you'll be another group. That leaves Ryu-kun and me. Does everyone agree?" The group gave their confirmation, agreeing to the plan. "Good. Let's part here." And thus everyone but Anji and Ryuga did just that. "Okay, now that they're gone, we can get a sneak peek at that treasure chest while everyone's busy with the Ocean Moon event."

"I swear, your cleverness frightens even me. I'm in." Ryuga smirked.

"Excellent. Let's start later tonight while everyone's busy, let's say, 9pm?"

"That works. Let's split up and take a break from here." With that, Ryuga and Anji split up, killing time until their skirmish.

Much later into the night, Anji and Ryuga regrouped behind the house as planned. Ryuga arrived first, a little early. His gaze was set on a truly inspiring sight, the full Ocean Moon. Just as Keitaro said, the waves were calm and clear, reflecting the moon with a light blue, soft hue. He couldn't take his eyes away from the breathtaking sight. "So this is the Ocean Moon. Truly a sight to behold." Instantly, he understood the importance of the moon. To spend time with that precious someone during such an event would be a memory to treasure.

"That moon is something else, huh?" A voice spoke from the distance.

Ryuga smiled serenely. "Yes it is, Anji-kun, yes it is…" He turned to greet Anji. "Shall we get started?"

"Yeah, let's go." The two carefully made their way inside the beach house, which was thankfully empty. Since everyone was outside, Ryuga and Anji's mission would be a piece of cake.

Within minutes, the two already reached the upper room, Ibuki's quarters. With Ryuga's pick-locking, the door was opened. In the middle of the room was the treasure chest. It was ancient and dusty, only a few feet wide. Ryuga stepped towards the treasure chest and reached his hand out to open it.

He stopped suddenly when a warm pair of hands fell on top of his, having the same intention.

"What in the name of…!?" Ryuga looked up to see where the hand came from, only to see a familiar, teal haired ninja hanging upside down from the ceiling. "…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…HOLY—" The two were about to yell when a hand was quickly placed over their mouths, muffling the yell.

"If you two yell, we'll alert the others. We don't want trouble." Anji warned. He sweat-dropped when he faced Imite. "And…may I ask why you are here, Imite-san?"

The girl flipped down, landing on her feet and next to the treasure chest. "The same reason you guys are, to see what's inside! I'm just dying to know what's inside. No one's said anything about it, but I can bet they're curious too!"

"And you're right, now beat it!" Ryuga thumbed the exit.

"What do you mean _beat it_!? I'm not leaving here until I see what's inside!" Imite argued

"Either you leave, or I'll help you leave!" Ryuga shot heatedly, stepping forward.

"How about you leave!?" Imite stepped forward as well, raising her voice.

"There's no way I'm leaving. Just stay out of my way!"

"You're the one that's in my way! Stop acting like you're something special!"

"Stop trying to act tough and scurry off already!"

"You are the biggest pest I've ever met!"

"And you're the most putrid being to cross my existence!"

"Your hair looks like a beat up curtain!"

"Your eyebrows double as a tent!"

"Your arrogance is unbelievable!"

"The fact you have such ugly hair is even more unbelievable!"

"I'll have you know that…" Imite stopped in mid sentence when she realized two things, Ryuga stopping as well.

One, they stepped so close that their faces were only a hair away from contact.

Two, wasn't the treasure chest closed a moment ago? As well as the window?

"It's about time you two noticed. Someone made off with the item and escaped through the window." Anji informed.

The two blinked in confusion. "Anji-kun…if you know this and seen it happen…why didn't you stop the thief?" Ryuga asked.

Anji shrugged. "I was enjoying both of your arguing too much to care. That, and you two are about to make quite a contact." He pointed out.

"What conta—AH!" Ryuga jumped away from Imite, as did the girl to the mage. "You were trying to attack me again, weren't you?"

"If anything, I bet you were trying to pull another fast one like back when Shigeru-san found us!" Imite accused.

"Huh…?" Anji glanced back and forth between the two. "…Did I miss something?"

"Never mind! Right now, we have to catch that thief! Anji-kun, go warn the others! Enemy-san, as much as I hate it, you're the only other person that's fast enough to help me catch up. Let's go!"

Imite nodded. "Right!" The two quickly leapt out the window and after the assailant.

"Interesting how those two can work together so quickly after an argument. I'll be sure to remember that." Anji noted. As he climbed down the stair, he met with an unexpected guest…

With Imite and Ryuga, the two were hot on the thief's trail, spotting him in the distance. The target was pretty small, with an odd shape to it. "Enemy-san, do you have any weapons on you?" Ryuga asked, wielding his staff.

"Yeah, I came prepared just in case." Imite pointed to her Pokébelt, equipped with various ninja gear.

"Then let's get this thief! Earth Glaive!" Ryuga called, swing his staff. Dozens of spears made of sand and earth extruded out of the ground, trailing towards the target. Imite used the spears to jump from one to the other in pursuit.

The assailant dodged a majority of them while trying to escape, but tripped over a few, getting trapped between the spears. This allowed the two to get a good enough view of their bandit.

It was a Squirtle.

'_A Squirtle? That mark on its arm…isn't that the mark of Sukaku? Could it be his scout?'_ Ryuga was surprised with this revelation, but had no time to ponder the possibility. He pointed his staff at the Squirtle Scout. A ball of energy formed at the tip, cackling with electricity. "Thunder Cannon!" He was about to fire when—

_WHAM!_

"ARG!" Ryuga got tackled by Imite, causing him to miss completely. The Squirtle used this chance to escape the Earth Glaive and gain some distance. "What the hell was that for!?" Ryuga bellowed at the girl.

"Don't hurt the poor thing! Let's just capture him!"

"You dumbass! We can't just play nice with these thieves! If he gets away, we're completely screwed! Get off of me!" Ryuga pushed Imite off, standing up. "If it'll prevent you from forcing yourself on me, we'll just capture the damn thing!" He ran off to resume the pursuit.

"I wasn't forcing myself on you! Sheesh!" Imite continued the chase as well.

Frustrated, Ryuga decided to take out the big guns. "Chase that Squirtle down, Kaoru!" A bird Pokémon was released into night sky, a shadow cast over its form.

"Here me, villains of the night! Nothing shall be safe from my might! Fear the name of KAORU, THE MAGNIFICENT! HA HA HAAA!" The Pokémon boasted loudly. Swooping down, the light of the moon made the Pokémon's identity unveiled.

It was a Pidgeotto.

Imite sweat-dropped. That Pidgeotto was as dramatic as Ryuga.

"Kaoru, attack the enemy with Wing Attack!" Ryuga commanded.

With a cry, Kaoru whipped past the enemy, striking it with his wing. The Squirtle tumbled along the ground, trying to get back on its feet. The scout growled and tried to stand up, only to be stopped by a Kecleon appearing out of invisibility.

_SMACK!_

"Ugh…!" Sukaku's scout was knocked back by the Kecleon's fist, dropping the item, which was inside a white cloth. The Squirtle noticed that it was cornered, and had no choice. "HELP! IN NEED OF REINFORCEMENTS!" It yelled with a loud shriek.

_THWACK!_

Ryuga slammed the Pokémon over the head with his staff, knocking it out. "Damn, we're too late. Enemy-san, summon your Pokémon and prepare for combat! Kaoru, go above and scout perimeter. Haku, go into stealth for surprise attacks! Move it!"

"I shall strike from within the shadows." Haku, the Kecleon, used his ability to turn invisible.

"Let the enemy come. He shall not stand a chance against our divine wrath!" The Pidgeotto flew into the sky to see the area.

"Tsubaki, Duplica, come on out!" Imite summoned Duplica, the Ditto, and the Haunter. "Duplica-chan, let's do our thing! Transform!"

"You got it!" Duplica started stretching and changing shape. Duplica transformed into Imite, who gave the ditto a pair of ninja gear to use in combat.

"You've got to be kidding me. As if one Enemy-san wasn't bad enough, I have to deal with two nightmares." Ryuga sighed.

"Oh shut up!" Imite silenced.

"Anyway, whatever you do, do not underestimate the enemy! We can't play the nice guy with what we're about to face."

"What's about to happen?" Imite asked worriedly. The two stepped backwards until their backs were touching, making sure not to leave any blind spots.

"We're about to get hammered with lots of Wartortles…" Ryuga gritted his teeth.

"The enemy is coming! We got dozens coming from all directions! They're charging now!" Kaoru warned. Not a moment later, a loud cry could be heard from all directions.

"Crush the humans!"

"Kill the unclean!"

"Glory to lord Sukaku!" Different cries could be heard as waves of armored, trident toting Wartortles started rushing towards the two battlers. There had to be over 40 Wartortles ready to fight them.

At that moment, Ryuga and Imite's lives were at stake.

A wave to six Wartortles ran at Ryuga with tridents pointed at him. He, however, wasn't daunted. "Hmph!" Raising his staff, Ryuga conjured electric energy at the tip. Before he used the attack, he made sure to look around, in case Imite was insane enough to tackle him again. The coast was clear. "Thunder Cannon!" The shot was released at the group of Wartortles.

_BOOM!_

Half of the small squad was tossed into the air, paralyzed by the electrical explosion. Two of them got in close enough to thrust their spears at him. Using his close range skills, Ryuga twirled his staff to parry the attacks and leave the two Wartortles open for a counter attack.

_WHAM! SMACK!_

Ryuga smashed his staff against the skull of one of the Wartortles and thrust the top of his weapon into the other, knocking them out. He looked up to notice the last Wartortle inhaling deeply…

_SPLASH!_

"Ugh…!" Ryuga was struck by a high pressure Water Gun, making it hard to breathe.

_WHAM!_

The armored turtle suddenly collapsed on the ground. "Ryuga-sama, are you injured?" Haku asked, still invisible.

"Dammit…and I just finished washing my hair too…" Ryuga pouted, his hair completely matting his face.

"This is no time to worry about that. I will help as much as I can, but please keep up your guard!" Haku left the scene, attacking the enemy unseen.

A large group of Wartortles were charging towards Ryuga. Before they could land an attack, a powerful Whirlwind attack scattered the forces, breaking their formation. "Fear the gale of justice, WHIRLWIND!" Kaoru rapidly flapped his wings, blowing the enemy away and causing discord among the ranks.

"Kill them all!" A group of four Wartortle battlers lunged at Ryuga from four separate directions.

Ryuga whirled his staff around his body, building momentum. "On your knees!"

_SLAM!_

His staff struck the head of the first Wartortle, denting the helm and knocking the Pokémon unconscious. He side stepped a trident thrust and smashed the narrow bottom of the staff into the second enemy's forehead, subduing the individual. A third enemy attacked from the sky, only for Ryuga to dodge the initial attack and perform a full body swing into the turtle's face, sending it flying.

_STAB!_

"Ack!" Ryuga gasped as he was impaled from the side by an angry Wartortle. He pointed his staff at point-blank range. "Thunder Cannon!"

_ZAP!_

The enemy was blown across the battlefield, fried to a crisp.

"Agh…damn…" Ryuga held onto his wound, which was bleeding profusely. He couldn't rest with the wave still approaching. "Looks like I got my work cut out for me…GS Limiter…BREAK! CRYSTAL SOUL SPHERES!" After breaking the limiting chains, the 8 magical orbs materialize around Ryuga, who grinned maliciously. "Now the real battle begins…! RAAAH!" He charged straight into the fray, taking down all who opposed him.

However, Ryuga wasn't the only one performing well in combat. Imite was displaying her own battling prowess.

"Suiton! Aisu hishu (ice dagger) no jutsu!" Imite jumped in the air and shot a flurry of sharp ice blocks from her mouth at the enemy below, a majority of them getting injured. With a backflip, she landed on top of a Wartortle, kicked off its head, and then jumped kicked another opposing enemy. Once she hit the ground, a squad of 5 Wartortles ran at her with weapons ready for striking.

_CHING!_

"Grr…!" Imite guarded herself with her twin ninja knives. The knives were longer than normal knives, and the knuckle guard was bladed. Five tridents were plunged just past her skin, the girl barely holding off from getting stabbed. With a battle cry, Imite broke the lock, throwing the Wartortles off balance.

_SLASH!_

After a swift series of blindingly fast twirls and slashes, all five of the enemies fell unconscious. "Phew…that was close!" Imite whipped a bead of sweat off her forehead.

"HIYAAA!" Two more turtles appeared, lunging at Imite from the air. They were about to land a blow with their spears when a pair of purple fist phased through the ground.

_WHAM!_

The Wartortles fell unconscious from the punch as Tsubaki rose from the ground. "Thanks Tsubaki-chan!" Imite thanked.

"Don't rest yet! We got more coming this way!" Tsubaki pointed ahead to show a large group of enemy Pokémon, roughly around 10.

Duplica jumped into the scene after defeating a small team of Wartortles. "Imite-chan, let's use our combo move!"

"Sounds good to me!" The two stood side to side as they ran in synchronized motion towards the pack.

"Twin Blade Flash!" The two yelled, dramatically increasing their speed.

_**SLASH!**_

In an instant, Imite and Duplica cut down 10 Wartortles, making sure to avoid vital points. "We got em'!" Duplica praised. The ditto grew worried when her partner didn't answer. "…Imite-chan?"

"What is that…?" Imite's stare was transfixed on the 8 spheres floating around Ryuga. A tremendous amount of energy could be felt coming from Ryuga. She gasped when she saw a trail of blood on the sand, all coming from Ryuga. "He's injured!" Worried, she dashed towards Ryuga with Duplica in pursuit.

_BOOM!_

Explosions were created on several spots as the Crystal Soul Spheres started shooting off powerful spells, taking down the Wartortle army rapidly. "Dammit…just how many of them are here…!?" Ryuga was breathing in pants, well over his limit.

"Ryuga-sama, you've gone over the time limit. You must cease using your spheres!" Haku warned.

"I agree with Haku-kun. Stop using your power!" Kaoru cried, picking off some of the remnant forces.

"I…still have enough…power to…take down most of them…" Ryuga extended his hands into the air and closed his eyes, channeling his energy into the spheres. All 8 soul spheres started glowing brightly. "Here we go…HAIL OF JUDGMENT!" The spheres and Ryuga suddenly shot off huge amounts of magical energy high into the air.

The remaining Wartortles gaped in horror as the rain of power fell towards their direction. "RETREAT!"

**_KABOOM!_**

More than half of the remaining forces were wiped out by the Hail of Judgment. However, the attack placed immense strain of Ryuga, shutting down his GS limit. "Damn…it wasn't enough…" Exhausting his mana, Ryuga was rendered defenseless against the remnant forces.

"Revenge!" One of the Wartortles yelled, leading a small group to charge at Ryuga.

_SLASH! STAB!_

Ryuga had closed his eyes just before he was struck by several tridents. Strangely, he noticed that the spears missed many of his vital points. Opening his eyes, he couldn't help but be shocked. Imite had guarded him, deflected a majority of the tridents. However, some of the tridents either nicked Imite or passed through her guard. "Ryu-kun, are you okay?"

"Ugh, what the hell!?" Ryuga yelled.

"Heh, now we're even." Imite said, struggling through the complex of spears.

_SLASH!_

Imite used her knives to cut down the tridents and break through them, leaving the Wartortle brigade weaponless. She dug in her pockets and threw small bomblets at the Wartortles. The bomb blast sent the Wartortles in front flying off, but also did damage to Imite and Ryuga, who were close to the bombs. The two fell back from the blast, but Imite took most of the damage. "Ow…my arm…" Imite groaned.

Ryuga had an unreadable expression. "Kaoru, Haku, help Enemy-san's allies hold off those Pokémon! Quickly!"

"As you wish." Haku agreed.

"I shall defend with grace and honor! I will not fail you!" Kaoru said, joining Haku. The four Pokémon left the two alone to take down the reinforcements.

"Enemy-san, can you move your arm?" Ryuga asked.

"Um…lemme see…" Imite tried to move it, but stifled a scream from the intense pain. "It hurts…"

"Well it's about to get worse." Before Imite could object, Ryuga shifted her arm until it was parallel with her chest.

"That freaking hurts! Stop it!"

"Just shut up for a minute!" Ryuga chided. "Now close your eyes…"

"…You're not going to try something perverted at a time like this, are you?"

"Dammit, close your freaking eyes before I change my mind!" Ryuga bellowed. Imite did as instructed. At that moment, Ryuga closed his eyes and placed his hand over the injured portion of the arm. There was a pause before a blue hue glowed on Ryuga's hands and Imite's arm. After a few seconds, the glow dissipated, as Ryuga's energy did. "That should hold until a healer arrives." His vision was getting blurry from too much magic use. After over using his GS limit, his strength was nearly depleted.

Imite opened her eyes, staring at Ryuga. "Ryu-kun. My arm, you…"

"Hmph, don't get ahead of yourself Enemy-san. Of both of us, you have more fighting ability. I can use the time to rest and recover my energy."

"Good plan. Than—"

"Don't thank me; I didn't do it to be nice. Just go!" Ryuga assured stubbornly. He tossed a glare at the Ocean Moon. _'Damn you moon! It's all your fault!'_

"Incoming!" Imite warned. Three Wartortles prepared a Water Gun attack at the two.

"Esca, use Light Screen!" Kaisuke called out. The Espeon jumped in front of Imite and Ryuga, casting a transparent barrier to reflect the Water Gun attacks.

"Meizu, crush them with Hydro Pump!" Anji commanded. The Sharpedo appeared out of the sand and sent the enemy flying with a powerful thrust of water.

"You guys! You're here!" Imite cheered. The Super Shippers, along with Kaisuke, arrived in time to assist in crushing the Wartortle army. Within a few minutes, Sukaku's forces fled the area, leaving the treasure behind. The Super Shippers were victorious.

"You guys looked wrecked. Sorry we're late." Anji apologized.

"Better late than never." Ryuga assured. Trust Anji to have dramatic timing, but at least their lives were saved.

"Anji told me what happened. It's a relief you two are alright. We should head back as soon as possible." Kaisuke suggested, walking ahead.

Anji extended his hand to Ryuga, who was still lying down. "Come on Ryu-kun, let's head back. Can you stand?"

"Not for long. Thanks for the help." Ryuga reached for Anji's hand, only for another to grab onto it. He tossed a glare at the owner of the hand. "Enemy-san, what the hell are you—AH!" The mage was taken by surprise when Imite pulled him up and placed the mage on her back, giving him a piggy-back ride.

"I'll take it from here, Anji-kun. I've babysitted him enough for today, might as well finish what I started. Let's go, Ryu-kun!" The ninja smiled, walking ahead.

Ryuga flushed in embarrassment, which was further induced by Anji's chuckling. "Let me down this instant! If I wasn't so tired, I would mop the floor with you!"

"Pipe down and relax. Consider this thanks for healing me."

Ryuga growled, but soon surrendered to the idea, resting his head on Imite's shoulder. "Damn you Enemy-san…I'll let you slide for now…but don't expect me to submit to you so easily next time…"

"Yeah, yeah…"

Anji watched this exchange with peaked curiosity. Now things were getting very interesting. "Not bad Ryu-kun, not bad…hm?" Anji caught a glimpse of the object the Squirtle scout attempted to steal earlier. He picked up while on the move. Unveiling the item, he stifled a gasp. Now it made sense why Sukaku was trying so hard to obtain the item. There were three short swords embedded with a jewel in each of the handles. The blades on the weapons were crystal clear, magical properties glowing from within them. Anji sensed a powerful magic from within, more powerful than he had ever felt. A small murmur escaped his lips, which only Kaisuke managed to catch.

"This weapon…it's the Mugendai no Tsurugi…"

Inside Sukaku's lair, the surviving Squirtle scout reported his failure to Sukaku, expecting a harsh punishment, or even death. However, the scout was surprised, yet curious, when Sukaku started chuckling. "Sukaku-sama, may I ask what you find so amusing?"

"Though you have failed, telling me the identity of the artifact was still a part of my plans, as was your failure."

"Sukaku-sama?"

"You know I always hate covert operations. They're always so boring and tasteless. I merely wanted to test Hozaru's word about these Arcadian students. I must say, he wasn't bluffing. But play time is over! Alert the troops and my admirals, tell them this!" Sukaku clenched his hands tightly, a malevolent smirk on his face.

"Tomorrow, we shall amass an armada that will crush the Raokei's enemies and wipe them from existence!"

* * *

Sorry for the overdue chapter, but I've managed to finish this chapter quicker than normal. Thanks for withstanding my delays and please leave a review on your thoughts. That way, it'll help me improve. 

P.S. Mugendai no Tsurugi - Sword of infinity


	24. Pokemon Adventures Volume 2: Cast Away

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon

* * *

It was another beautiful day at the beach for the arcadian students. The waves were turbulent, the sun was bright, and the temperature was perfect for an outing. Everyone was enjoying themselves one way or another. 

All except for one poor sap.

"This. Vacation. SUCKS!" Raigeki exasperated, dropping himself on the sandy ground. His lack of excitement grew beyond annoyance. "Excitement" could be translated as enjoyment at other people's expense, namely Satoshi. Unfortunately, Satoshi had something of importance to accomplish, so he couldn't be bothered. This left Raigeki with very little to do. As he turned on his side, the electric mouse noticed something across the sea, something he never noticed before. It was a little ways off, but he could tell that it was an island. His ears perked up at the idea. "I got it!" He sat up and walked over to the spot where Satoshi and Shigeru's collection of items were, including a row of Pokéballs. He pressed on the button on each of them, releasing the respective inhabitants.

Zohl was the first to notice Raigeki. "Is something wrong?"

"Yeah, you bet something's wrong. I'm bored!"

"Hold up. You meant to tell me you called us out and woke us up just because you're bored?" Django glared.

"There have been worse times. Hopefully there isn't a prank involved." Zohl tossed a warning glance at Raigeki, who waved his paws defensively.

"Hey, hey, it's not like that this time. There's a place I wanna check out. Just see for yourself!" Raigeki pointed to the island he spotted.

"An island, huh? It's a wonder no one noticed it yet." Kisaragi pondered aloud.

"There's also a path to the island. I say we explore that island and claim it for ourselves!"

"I don't mind coming along." Shadow said.

"I'll come too. Someone has to watch over Raigeki." Zohl stated.

"Maybe there'll be chicks on that island who are in need of a little lovin', hehehe." Django chuckled mischievously.

Kisaragi sighed. "If Django-kun is going, I'll have to keep an eye on him."

"So far so good, but I think we should get the others in on this. Let's hop to it." Raigeki led his troupe through the sandy beach to recruit the rest of his teammates.

After several minutes of searching, Raigeki managed to recruit all of his teammates to go along the expedition. Upon a certain Pokémon's request, Raigeki had Esca come along as well. A plan in mind, Raigeki lead everyone towards the strip of sandy land that led to the island, riding on top of Django's head. The group had arrived at the point where the bridge started when Raigeki spotted another group reaching the same spot. Safe to say, he wasn't please with who he saw.

"What are you losers doing here?" Raijin snapped.

"That's what I should be asking you!" Raigeki pointed angrily.

"This is quite the coincidence." Haku noted, noticing his future competition.

Zohl decided to step in between the two raging rodents before there was any unnecessary fighting. In the process, he took a good look at Raijin's troupe. There was an interesting assortment of Pokémon in their team. "I don't know about you, but I feel an introduction is in order. After all, we are future rivals. It's only proper."

"That is true. If you would, we shall start first. I am Haku, Ryuga's partner."

Kaoru stepped next to Haku, performing a dignified bow. "I am Kaoru, the magnificent; Ryuga's heavenly soldier and defender of the innocent." Everyone sweat-dropped at Kaoru's introduction. Raijin waved it off with a 'Just don't ask' expression.

A rather large Pokémon stepped into view, standing in a pose where its powerful arms were stretched out. One of its red hands open and facing Team Tatsujin's Pokémon and the other going the opposite direction. "Behold the grace of Hayate, the honorable and powerful warrior of the Hariyama clan!"

There was a glint in Baiken's eye, foretelling unknown mischief. "Powerful warrior, you say?"

"Don't even think about it." Mikado scolded.

_POOF!_

"AAH!" The Team Tatsujin Pokémon jumped from the explosion of sand, nearly having heart attacks from a certain Sharpedo's surprise entrance.

"Good. Looks like I made it in time." Meizu looked around and saw Team Tatsujin's shocked and confused faces. "…What with you guys?"

"You just freaking popped out of nowhere! Excuse us for being a little spooked!" Raigeki shot angrily.

"Meizu be Hayate's ally, who aids Anji in his endeavor. Meizu be full of Surprises." Hayate informed.

"Fiona-san. It's been awhile." A sage-like voice spoke.

'_This aura…I know I've felt it from somewhere…'_ Fiona's suspicions where confirmed when she saw a familiar Pokémon revealing himself with the use of Teleport. Her eyes stared in surprise. "You…you're that Kadabra from before!"

The Kadabra chuckled. "I feel honored that you remembered me. I haven't forgotten my encounter with you." His eyes glanced at Kisaragi, who growled at the Psychic Pokémon. "I haven't forgotten about you either. This scar you gave me prevents such a thing." He felt the long scar across his chest, his eyes narrowing. "I shall make sure to return the favor in the future."

"Who said we had to wait?" Kisaragi hinted, stepping forward.

"If you don't feel like waiting, then by all means, come at me." Kadabra invited, awaiting Kisaragi's first move.

"Akira-san! Please don't fight!" Megumi cried, rushing towards her old friend.

"That voice…Megumi-chan! It's been so long." Akira smiled as the ghost floated hurriedly towards him, beaming with happiness. Akira smiled. "It's good to see you in good health. Has your new partner been treating you well?"

"Yes she has! She's very nice, but also very quiet. I've never even heard her voice before…but she tries very hard!" Megumi praised.

"Good to hear. You'll be glad to know who else is with us." Akira stepped to the side, showing something resembling a giant spider suddenly pounce on Megumi, who let out a shriek of surprise. Team Tatsujin was about to jump in to help, when they noticed Megumi laughing instead of crying for help.

"Long time no see, Megumi-chan!" The Ariados greeted.

Megumi gasped with delight at the sight of her favorite Ariados. "Takumi-kun! When did you get here?"

"Akira-san and I arrived not too long ago. Since we were part of the team that was bent on stealing Pokémon, no one wanted us due to bad reputation. However, Ayame-chan and Ryuga-kun took us in. We would've been rotting in a storage box forever if it weren't for those two. Akira-san is with Ryuga-san while I am with Ayame-san. They gave us the opportunity to travel around with the rest of the Pokémon so we could get to know each other. But wow, who would've guessed we would run into you."

"It's not like your reputation would get any better hanging out with those guys." Raigeki said with a suspicious glance.

"I'm sorry, did you say something, little _rat_?" A threatening voice whispered in Raigeki's ear.

"Raigeki-kun!" The rest of Team Tatsujin yelled, also surprised. A dark colored Pokémon held her sharp claws inches from severing the electric rodent's neck. It was a Sneasel.

"Don't even try your electric tricks, sparky. My claw is faster than your lightning can ever be."

"True." The Sneasel was caught off guard by a long black blade resting under her chin, "But then, so is my blade. It would be in your best interest to release our comrade." Kisaragi threatened.

The Sneasel shrugged and released Raigeki. "I didn't plan on doing anything anyway."

Raijin couldn't help but groan. "Couldn't you have at least left a nick or something, Yoko-chan? We would be doing the world a favor."

"One of these days, Raijin, one of these days…" Raigeki growled, shaking his clenched paw at him.

"Seeing how everyone else is introducing themselves, I suppose I shall make my entrance as well." Spoke a proper voice. Those who didn't recognized the voice looked to see a white cat lying on the sand, a complacent look on his voice. His voice was well spoken and had a sense of finesse and class, earning this particular Persian the title of 'Classy cat'. "You may call me Kyo. I watch over Ayane-chan and those who follow under her. A pleasure to meet your acquaintance."

'_I swear, that guy always gives me the creeps…'_ Raijin thought, sliding a suspicious eye towards the cat. Whether it was because Kyo was a cat or the fact no one could tell what he was thinking was anyone's guess as to Raijin's fear.

"So that's all of them, huh? What a couple of freaks…" Raigeki insulted.

"Speak for yourselves. At least we have the decency to introduce ourselves, not mouth off nonsense." Raijin shot.

"There is no need for such a thing. I already know who they are all." Kyo started, "Raigeki the Pikachu, Zohl the Marowak, Kiza the Ninetails, Megumi the Misdreavus, Fiona the Gardevior, Baiken the Blaziken, and Mikado the Feraligatr. There are also the Pokémon who are part of the Arcadian Special Forces. Django, the Bloodhound, Kisaragi the Night Blade, and Shadow the Moonlight. Quite the famous names if you know where to look. Ah, it looks like I missed someone." His keen eyes focused on the Espeon in the back holding a serious stare. "Quite the cold eyes. You must be…Esca—" He stopped his sentence once he noticed Esca's eye gleamed eerily. The message was clear that she didn't want her name to be uncovered. "…Leo's partner."

"How did you know our names? Not everyone knows about the Arcadian Special Forces." Django questioned, shockingly serious.

"My, such serious glances you all are giving me. Keep in mind, Team Tatsujin isn't exactly a name not known to the public. Your names are slowly being spread throughout the world, just like ours. The Bushido League isn't something to be scoffed at, as it is only the world's largest gathering of students and fighters from all over the world. As for the Arcadian Special Forces, I just happen to hear about it through the grape vine. Never underestimate the Pokémon information network. It makes the humans source of information look like a joke. Also, if you have the time to ask questions…" Kyo directed his attention towards the island everyone was heading towards, "You have the time to walk. Treasure waits for no one, as is the opportunity to seize it."

"Kyo's right! I'm not gonna let such an opportunity pass me by. Precious treasure, here I come!" Raigeki started sprinting towards the mass of land ahead, the members of Team Tatsujin running from behind.

"Oh no you don't! Let's go everyone!" Raijin led the charge towards the island, carrying Team Rocket in tow.

While walking briskly, Kyo tossed an amused glance at Esca, who was paying him no attention. _'It looks like the rumors about you are true …Esca the death seer…' _

Over ten minutes of running later, both Team Tatsujin and Team Rocket arrived on the island, which was void of any human involvement or presence. There was a mountain-like formation hosted in the middle of the island, followed by a mass amount of trees and lush, creating a thick jungle. Most of the Pokémon had to take a deep breath to regain their stamina from all the running Raigeki and Raijin made them do.

Fiona glanced about the island. "This area seems nice. Very quiet."

"Forget about that, what about my treasure?" Raigeki whined.

"_Your_ treasure? You mean mine!" Raijin corrected.

"Hey…" Zohl called.

"What, old age rotting your brain or something? That treasure is definitely mine!"

"Oh no you didn't! You did not just go there, you little squirt!"

"Hey…!" Zohl called slightly louder, feeling ignored.

"You wanna say that to my face?" Raigeki stepped up to Raijin, glaring up at the evolved Pokémon.

"If you're feeling froggy, then jump!" Raijin threatened.

_SMACK!_

"Ouch!" Raijin and Raigeki held onto their throbbing heads, courtesy of Zohl's bone club.

"If you two would stop acting like morons, you would notice a small situation in our hands." Zohl pointed towards the road they took in order to reach the island.

The path was no longer there.

"WHAT!?" Everyone gasped.

"The tide has risen. We won't be able to leave until it descends." Esca added.

T-t-that means…we will be stuck here!?" Shizuka asked fearfully.

"Not all of us. Most of you guys will be though." Meizu informed.

"Somehow, I doubt that bothers those two." Fiona sweat-dropped as she watched Raigeki and Raijin get into another argument, only for Zohl to punish them again.

"This is no time for arguments. We should scout the island for anything of use." Zohl instructed.

"Like a girl?" Django inquired.

Zohl tossed Django a flat look. "No, something more important that that."

"…more girls?"

Zohl sighed. "Such a hopeless cause…"

"Well, covering ground would be a good idea. Perhaps we should split up into groups." Raigeki agreed.

"Let's not forget that we need a home base, just in case something goes wrong. It's one of the fundamental rules for survival: Always have backup plans." Kiza stated.

"The foxy woman is correct. We should have some stay here and others go scouting the island." Kyo said.

'_Foxy woman…?'_ Kiza blushed.

"Alright, so what will it be? We'll need several teams to search this place out quickly. Any ideas for arrangements?" Fiona glanced around for any show of hands.

"I'll scout around. I'm fast on the ground, so I can cover a lot quickly." Raigeki volunteered.

"I'm coming with him." Raijin decided.

"WHAT!?" Raigeki shouted, appalled.

Raijin tossed Raigeki a suspicious glare. "I know for a fact you don't plan on doing any real work. If anything, you'll probably just try to find any treasure on this island and claim it for yourself."

"I have to admit, Raijin-san is probably right." Zohl agreed. The rest of the Team Tatsujin members nodded in unison.

"Have mercy on my soul…" Raigeki cried pathetically.

"Okay, so team 1 is Raigeki and Raijin. Anyone else?" Fiona asked.

"Hayate is willing to search land. Hayate crush any threat on island." Hayate announced.

"I'll come too!" Baiken shouted quickly.

"Hayate needs no one else. Hayate works well enough alone."

"I'm coming and that's that! I'm not taking no for an answer!"

"Okay…" Fiona sweat-dropped. Talk about an interesting pairing. "So team 2 is Hayate and Baiken."

Mikado raised her hand. "I'll search around by water. That way, the coast will be covered."

"Let me come along! I'm very fast in the water!" Meizu vouched.

"Any objections, Mika-chan?" Fiona asked. Mikado shrugged, showing she didn't care. "Okay, so our team 3 is Mika-chan and Meizu-san."

"Haku-kun and I shall take the skies! Nothing shall get past our keen eyes!" Kaoru declared.

"Haku-kun and Kaoru-kun are incredible scouts. It would be a good idea to let them take care of that." Kyo informed.

Fiona nodded. "Okay, so our sky team is Haku and Kaoru. I think we can spare one last group for the scouting mission."

"Then I'll go." Zohl said.

"That's fine. You shouldn't go by yourself though. Maybe I should come along."

"Um…I can come along with Zohl-san…" Everyone turned to see a timid Shizuka raising her hand. "T-that is…if it's okay with Zohl-san…"

"I'm fine with that. Shizuka-san's tunneling abilities may come in handy." Zohl agreed.

Fiona nodded. "Sounds good. Okay, so the final team is Zohl-kun and Shizuka-san. Any objections? Okay then, with that settled, let's get to work." All the teams left in separate directions, aiming to map out and explore the area. "Alright, just because we're stuck here doesn't mean we can sit around all day. Let's start searching for food and materials nearby."

"My, it's impressive that you're taking charge so well, Fiona-chan." Kiza praised, though having a suspicious look in her eyes.

"Of course. We have to make sure we got everything we need in case anything should go wrong."

"Uh-huh…I suppose this wouldn't happen to be a way to keep your mind busy, right? You know, so you don't have to keep thinking about a _certain_ someone too much."

"W-what's that suppose to mean!?"

"Oh nothing…" Kiza drawled childishly. She started whistling a nameless tune as she started walking away. "…Fiona-chan's thinking about Vash-kun…" She sang.

"HEY!" Fiona yelled, flushing from embarrassment. She started chasing Kiza around, who was continuously toying with Fiona.

"What a lively group." Yoko commented.

"You don't know the half of it…" Kisaragi sighed, watching everyone doing their own business. Megumi was chatting happily with Akira and Takumi while Shadow was sticking to Esca like glue. Django was being as lazy as Kyo, talking to the Persian about who-knows-what. It took over 30 minutes before things settled down and everyone started getting to work.

Sometime into their work, Akira approached Fiona, a worried look in his face. "Fiona-san, may I have a word with you for a moment?"

Fiona stopped what she was doing and directed her attention to Akira. "Hm? Sure. What is it?"

"It involves this island. I've been trying to use my psywaves to give a quick scan of this island. However, for some reason, there is some sort of…interference."

"Interference? It could be shadowstones or moonstones lying about somewhere. Both have ill effect on our powers, especially shadowstones."

Akira's eyes narrowed with suspicion. "True. However, if it was something as simple as that I wouldn't have come to you."

This got Fiona's attention. "What do you mean?"

"This feeling…it isn't as though there's a wall I can't get through due to stones, but like something is pushing the waves back, preventing me from even having a medium range scan."

"You don't mean…"

Akira nodded. "Exactly. Either every speck and span of this island is made of anti-psychic stones…or there's someone, or something, on this island that doesn't want us snooping around…"

Further into the jungle, Raigeki had a fixed frown on his face, glaring at Raijin at the corner of his eye. _'Look at him, trying to act all calm and whatnot. I'll bet he's gonna try to lead me into some sort of trap and leave me for dead. That way, he would have the treasure for himself. There's no way I'm going to let that happen! Time to do a little side-trip and lose that big idiot.'_ The Pikachu schemed. "Hey, Raijin. I'm gonna go look around over there. You go on ahead and be somewhat useful." Raigeki left hurriedly without giving Raijin a chance to answer back.

"Hmph, weirdo. Probably gonna get himself killed or something. Good riddance is all I can say." Raijin continued trekking along his current route. He couldn't help but notice a few oddities as he walked the path. The air smelt particularly moist and had a peculiar scent to it. It was doubtful whether Raigeki managed to catch on, but Raijin was no fool.

Someone was here.

Suddenly, Raijin's ears twitched, picking up something nearby. _'Could it be…voices?'_ Cautious, he went into stealth mode, crawling quietly towards the source. He was almost positive he heard voices nearby. It took several tense minutes for Raijin to get within visible range. To say he was surprised with what he saw would be an understatement.

Why were there so many Pokémon gathered here?

There were dozens of water-type Pokémon standing at attention in front of 3 Pokémon. One of them was a giant lobster with a star on its forehead; the other was a pink creature with an oddly shaped crown on its head and the last Pokémon was a blue Water Fish Pokémon with a slippery body. The pink Royal Pokémon, a Slowking, was speaking to the assorted forces of Pokémon before him. "As of this moment, there are intruders on this island that wish to disturb our peace. These fools think they can just come to this island and claim it for themselves. However, we shall prove them dead wrong. Our enemies are currently stationed by the beach entrance, unaware of the fact they are standing on our Sukaku-sama's home base. They must be eliminated before they discover us. As of this moment, we have the element of surprise. Our sky and sea forces were already dispatched to flank the enemy. This, however, doesn't mean that our victory is assured. I won't lie to you, these foes who we are about to face are indeed powerful. But! Do not let that daunt your indomitable courage! We shall crush them without mercy! In the name of Sukaku-sama, we will be victorious!" The soldiers roared with their battle cry, inspired by the Slowking's pre-battle speech.

Raijin was sweating nervously. _'Sukaku…I know that name. This isn't good. I have to go and warn the oth…ers…' _His eyes widened at the next scene to unfold.

"Hey you! Yeah, that's right, you with the face!" A voice called out, grabbing Slowking's attention. The pink Pokémon turned to see Raigeki standing boldly across from him and his armies. "I heard you speaking all that crap, and I'm not going to let you get away with it!"

Raijin's jaw dropped, stupefied by Raigeki's foolishness. _'That idiot…! What the hell is he thinking!?'_

Slowking's eyes narrowed. "Oh? You're going to stop all of us just by yourself?"

"What are you, stupid? Of course not! Raijin and I are gonna take you down right here, right now! Isn't that right, Raijin?" Raigeki waved at Raijin. "Hey stupid, why are you hiding all the way over there?"

The army turned to the direction Raigeki pointed to, only to find a pale white Raichu with an extremely astounded expression on his face. "You…YOU FREAKING RETARD!!! ARE YOU TRYING TO GET US KILLED!!?" Raijin shouted with reasonable fury.

"Well this is a surprise. You seemed to have snuck under my psywaves, which doesn't happen very often. Of course, now that you heard of our plans, we can't let you live." Slowking smiled evilly.

"Dammit!" Raijin cursed, seeing small groups of armed Wartortles surrounding him and Raigeki. "Raigeki…! If you have a plan, you better start now!"

Raigeki blinked for a moment, and then scratched his head in embarrassment. "Oh yeah…I knew I forgot something important…!"

"YOU REALLY ARE TRYING TO GET US KILLLED!" Raijin bellowed.

Slowking turned to the Crawdaunt. "We mustn't stand around for too long. After all, we have a time table to keep. We shall let Boomer-kun handle these fools."

"Ya, I gotcha. Yo, Boomer-kun! Take care o' these guys fo me!" The Crawdaunt commanded.

"Yeeessss sssiiiirrr!" The Quagsire, Boomer, spoke slowly. The Slowking and Crawduant left. Boomer wobbled between Raigeki and Raijin, who were surrounded by a dozen foot soldiers. "Prepaaaarrreee toooo diiiieeeee…"

With Baiken and Hayate, their situation was also troublesome. However, it wasn't because of enemy encounters. "Excuse me!? You wanna say that again!?" Baiken growled.

"Hayate whip little girl anytime. Little girl feeble to the might of Hariyamas." Hayate declared.

"Don't make me rip you a new one!"

"Little girl is childish berserker. How pathetic." Hayate scoffed.

That tore it for the fully evolved fowl. "Dynamic…PUNCH!" She ran at Hayate with her fist raised, her fist brimming with power

The Arm Thrust Pokémon pulled back one of his hands, prepared to send the fowl Pokémon flying when he glanced over to the side. Baiken also noticed, and just in the nick of time.

_SPLASH!_

"Whoa!" Baiken slimly dodged a powerful thrust of water, breaking into the ground beneath from where she jumped. "What was that?"

"Hmph, I missed." The voice scoffed in disappointment. Baiken and Hayate could see a figure in the trees jumping down from a branch, revealing to be a very tough looking Pokémon with a blue body and a black and white spiral in the center. The Poliwrath stared down his competition with a daunting stare. "So these are my next victims, huh? Not much of a challenge. I can easily take care of you by myself!"

"Speak answers, intruder. Who are you?" Hayate demanded.

"My name isn't important. Especially since you're about to die. However, I can at least honor that much." The Poliwrath clenched its fist tightly, standing in a distinct form of martial art. "I am the end of your journey, Shinju, the strongest fighter in Sukaku's army."

"Strongest? That's good to know. Now I don't have to feel sorry for beating you into a pulp!" Baiken got into position, ready to battle.

Hayate spread his arms, one of his arms facing forward while the other in the opposite direction. His eyes shot a laser-like focus at his opponent. "Hayate grinds big talker into dust. Prepare for defeat!"

"HIYAAA!" All three Pokémon yelled, charging at each other.

_BOOM!_

"Look out!" Haku cried, barely hanging on after an explosion nearly knocked him off Kaoru.

"Haku-kun! There are enemies upon those hills!" The Pidgeotto pointed out several octopus-looking Pokémon that were stationed on tall hills, firing an array of different attacks at them.

"I see them, but what are Pokémon doing all the way out here?" Haku wondered.

"Perhaps I can answer that."

_WHOOSH!_

"Grr!" Haku gritted his teeth as he ducked to avoid a narrow beam attack from behind. Glancing back, he could see a manta ray type of Pokémon quickly flying towards them from behind. Attached to the bottom wings were groups of fish called Remoraid acting as cannons.

"You just happened to come across our home base. We can't exactly have you going around and screwing up any of our plans. That is why we're going to destroy your little group at once! By my name of Hellray, I will kill you both! Aurora Beam!" At the command, not only the Remoraid, but the Octillery based on the hilltops started charging up power for the attack.

"Hang on, Haku-kun! We're going into evasive action!"

_ZAM! ZAM! WHOOSH! BOOM!_

Kaoru skillfully dodged the dozens of beams and explosions that aimed to shoot down the agile bird. Haku had trouble trying to stay on, but luckily managed to do so. However, Hellray was still homing in fast at the duo. "Haku-kun! I require your aid to shake off our pursuer!"

'_Hmm, I haven't practiced this new attack yet, but now is the perfect chance.'_ Haku inhaled deeply, conjuring a powerful attack. "Ice…BEAM!" He shot out a powerful, icy blast from his mouth, aiming at the Mantine. The attack grazed the wing of Hellray, causing a bit of the surface to freeze. This forced Hellray to slow down drastically. "Kaoru-kun, NOW!"

"Here I come!" Kaoru zipped speedily towards Hellray, going into a super fast spiral towards his opponent. "Taste the power of justice! AERIAL ACE!"

_WHAM!_

Hellray cried in pain as it was struck directly by the attack. Luckily, the ice on its wings also broke, helping the Kite Pokémon regain mobility. "Grr…that's it! Time to die!" The two flying Pokémon began clashing and bombarding each other, turning the aerial battle into a chaotic war zone.

However, the air wasn't the only place that had turned into a war. The sea had also grown increasingly dangerous.

"Dammit Meizu, help me out here!" Mikado cried, trying to get out of the dozens of tentacles tying her up. Around her, over 10 jellyfish type Pokémon wrapped their long and slender tentacles around Mikado, restricting her movements.

"I'm trying, I'm trying!" Meizu, however, because of his Rough Skin ability, was very difficult to capture without inflicting pain upon the captor. Meizu's high speed was his best weapon in the deadly sea battle. In the water, dozens of Tentacool were attempting to capture and eliminate Mikado and Meizu. Though they managed to get through the first few waves, the numbers seemed endless, forcing them to try and escape. The Brutal Pokémon swam at incredible speeds towards the captured Mikado. "Let's give em a Slash attack!"

_SLASH!_

Most of the tentacles were severed due to Meizu's sharp teeth and hardened fins, allowing Mikado to break free. She wasted no time going on the offensive. "Whirlpool!" Mikado started spinning her body in the water, soon creating a huge whirlpool in the water, causing the Tentacool to be swept up in the raging water. Mikado used this time to escape them with Meizu. "Why did this have to happen to us!? And just where did all of these Tentacool come from?"

"I don't know, but I know where we're going, and that's away from here!"

"Don't you dare leave me behind!" Mikado swam hurriedly after the shark, being followed by many more waves of Tentacool.

The two were a few meters away from the shore when a huge, bigger version of the Tentacool erupted from the water, blocking them. "You shall not pass."

"Oh boy, this looks like trouble." Mikado gritted her teeth. In their path was a very powerful Tentacruel, probably the leader of the other Tentacools.

Back in the jungle, Zohl and Shizuka had yet to find danger.

The two cut their way through the thick jungle grass and vines, clearing out a path. Shizuka had a nervous feeling in the pit of her stomach, but failed to identify what it was. Zohl's hand was Shizuka's only comfort in the jungle, knowing that Zohl's calm and collected nature would see her through. "This jungle is pretty big. I hope we don't get lost."

"I wish the same, but let's stay on our guard. We have yet to discover any inhabitants." Zohl gave Shizuka a gentle squeeze on her hand, reassuring her that everything would be fine…or so he hoped. He couldn't help but feel awkward holding her hand, and the fact Shizuka gave him such a respectful honorific didn't help the strange feeling.

"Um…Zohl-sempai?"

"Yes?"

"Uh…" Shizuka hesitated to continue, feeling it would be a silly question. "I-I was wondering, if maybe later…you can…you know…um…"

"Spit it out already." Zohl hurried.

"Can you help me train, Zohl-sempai? I want to be more helpful to everyone." Shizuka finally asked.

Zohl stopped walking, tossing Shizuka a questionable stare. Of all the possible questions, that was the one he least expected. "Why me? You do realize we are rivaling teams. Our teammates would be furious should they find out."

"I-I know that, but I really need help. It's risky, but I am willing to take that risk."

"…Also, we barely know each other. No matter how you look at it, I'm still from an enemy team. What makes you think you can trust me? How do I know I can trust you?"

There was much pressure with Zohl's interrogation, but she knew there was much truth in it. "I understand if you don't trust me; that makes more sense than anything. But…I trust you, Zohl-sempai."

Zohl groaned internally. He couldn't fight such an earnest face. Her answer, though simple, made a huge impact on his impression of her. He felt almost uncomfortable that someone who barely knew him held him so high. "So, you really want me to be your teacher?"

"Yes." She answered without hesitation.

Zohl crossed his arms, wearing a serious face "I hope you do realize how silly your question is."

'_I knew it…'_ Shizuka thought despairingly, feeling depressed.

"I just hope your will is as strong as your resolve to train. I won't go easy on you."

"Ah…!" Shizuka beamed with excitement in an instant. "Thank you so much, Zohl-sensei!" She shook his hand ecstatically.

"Really, it's not that big of a deal. Just be sure you're prepared for lesson—" Zohl stopped and glanced behind swiftly, looking alarmed. Without warning, he grabbed Shizuka and threw himself behind a tree, hiding behind tall grass. He gently pressed Shizuka's head onto his chest, ignoring the burning sensation that was Shizuka's cheeks. A few seconds passed until a Squirtle came into view, followed by a Wartortle.

"What's wrong, did you see something?" The Wartortle asked the scout.

"I could've sworn I saw someone here. Must've been my imagination."

"Oh well. Let's move on. Kabuto-san ordered us to hunt down those Arcadian scums."

"Right. Let's move on!" The two left, and behind them over a dozen more Wartortles followed.

"Phew, that was a close one. Sorry about the rush, Shizuka." Zohl glanced down and sweat-dropped at what he saw.

Shizuka fainted, her face bright pink and eyes showing dizzy swirls.

"Shizuka, wake up." Zohl stood up and shook Shizuka awake.

"Uh…wha?" Shizuka was still dazed from the overwhelming feeling she received earlier.

"We need to hurry and reach the others. Looks like there's nothing but trouble on this island."

"You got that right, kid."

_SLASH!_

The two ground-types barely managed to roll out of the way of a lethal slash attack. The attacker was a tall, brown Pokémon with a wide head and long, sharp scythes for hands. "Too bad I missed. You won't be lucky the next time around."

"You must be Kabuto." Zohl gripped tightly onto his bone clue.

"Correct. Of course, it doesn't matter since you're about to perish along with your little girlfriend."

"We're about to perish, huh? We'll see about that."

Shizuka stared in surprise, a dark blush on her cheeks. "…So I'm your girlfriend?"

"ACK!" Zohl face-faulted. "H-HE'S MAKING FUN OF US!!" He shouted, shaking his bone club at Kabuto.

"Oh yeah, right. I knew that!" Shizuka laughed nervously.

Zohl tossed her a flat gaze. "…You're not quick on your feet, aren't you?"

"Enough talk. die!"

"Let's go, Shizuka!" Zohl and Shizuka ran at Kabuto, lunged at the two with sharp scythes.

Back at home base, a full-out war raged on.

"FIRE BLAST!" Django shot a powerful flame shaped as the kanji for fire at a group of Octillerys, knocking them out instantly.

"Faint attack!" Kisaragi and Yoko cried.

_SLASH!_

The two dark-type Pokémon took down a dozen Wartortles with unparalleled speed. They nodded to each other before dashing to fight off the never-ending threat.

"Where did these guys come from?" Fiona blasted two approaching enemies with Psywave. Two ink ball cannons were about to strike Fiona when Akira lifted a Reflect barrier to block the attack

"I have a feeling it's somewhere on this island. Unfortunately, we're too occupied to do anything as of this moment. We have to at least take down the ones in charge, otherwise this will never end."

"Those people are already here." Esca ran towards a specific part of the jungle and fired off a Psychic attack through the trees. A purple shield negated the attack.

"Ah, so we've been discovered. It's about time." The Slowking spoke arrogantly, stepping into the opening.

"Bout' time I got me a chance fo' some good fightin'!" The Crawdaunt snapped his pincers threateningly.

"First Admiral Yamaga-san, Second Admiral Kurosaki-san, we've located the others and are currently engaged in combat." A scout Squirtle reported.

"Good job. Keep us informed on the results." Yamaga, the Slowking, ordered.

"Ya, like he said. Don't go missin' any details or I'll clamp ya!" Kurosaki the Crawdaunt added.

"Yes sir!" The Squirtle saluted before running off.

Fiona was alarmed by what she heard. "The others…? You don't mean…"

Yamaga flashed an evil grin. "Exactly. You can consider the rest of your friends dead as of this moment. But more importantly, you might want to worry about yourselves."

"Bwahahaha! Ya, like he said!" Kurosaki shouted excitedly.

"Fiona-chan, go ahead and take some of the others with you. We'll keep the rest of these guys busy!" Django instructed, pushing back the water-type horde.

Akira joined Fiona. "I'll join you, Fiona-san. I can help suppress the psychic abilities of Yamaga. Megumi-chan! Please aid us against this psychic!"

"Of course. I'll help fight." Megumi floated towards Akira after knocking out an Octillery with a Shadow Ball attack.

Fiona smiled gratefully. "Thanks you two. We should be able to take him down with all three of us."

"Hmm, how interesting." Yamaga faked deep thoughtfulness. "I could've sworn you thought you had an actual chance of winning."

"You better believe it!" Fiona stepped forward, powering up her psychic powers.

"We'll help too!" Shadow, Esca and Yoko started running towards Fiona's side.

_WHOOSH!_

Their path was blocked by a powerful energy wave passing by. Shadow and the others glanced to see Kurosaki, who just used a Crabhammer attack. "Nah uh! You guys aren't goin' anywhere! I got me some killin' to do!"

"Tch, what a pity. We have to deal with this idiot first." Yoko spat.

"We have no choice but to fight." Esca glared at Kurosaki.

"Don't worry, I'll help too." Shadow stepped forward, ready to pounce.

"Alright, it's a killin' time! Crabhammer!" Kurosaki pounded his huge pincer onto the ground, sending a ball of blue energy flying towards the three Pokémon. A blast erupted as they dodged the attack, scattering sand everywhere.

Fiona growled as she glared daggers at Yamaga. "I'm not going to let you get away with this!"

"Let me? Say that after you've gained the upper hand. My powers are well beyond your capabilities. I shall prove so now." Yamaga's eyes glowed bright blue, a strong surge of psychic energy pouring out of his body.

Fiona started off the battle. "Psybeam!" She sent several ripples of psychic waves at Yamaga.

"Hmph, too easy." With the wave of his hand, Yamaga destroyed the energy waves. "Water Pulse." Opening his mouth, he released ultrasound waves, affecting the three Pokémon.

"This sound…! It hurts…!" Fiona groaned in pain, trying to fight the high-pitched waves. "Grr…Teleport!" Fiona disappeared, and then reappeared behind Yamaga. "Psychic!" She released a powerful psychic blast at Yamaga, who didn't bother to even lift a finger.

"Mirror Coat."

Fiona was struck by double the force of her own attack, sending her flying. "That's…impossible! Slowkings don't know Mirror Coat…!" She stopped herself in midair, gently landing on the ground.

"A Mirror Coat? Since when did Slowkings know that kind of move?" Akira questioned.

"Who's to say we are limited to learn such attacks? I've learned more attacks than you can hope to achieve. I am not limited to what humans have taught you." Yamaga's eyes glowed bright blue again, this time preparing an even more powerful attack. "Unfortunately for you all, you won't live to see all of my attacks…"

_CRASH!_

Raigeki and Raijin dodged another powerful Mud Shot attack, capable of breaking through trees. Due to Boomer's ground-type element, electric attacks had no effect. If that wasn't bad enough, the Quagsire's slippery body made it tough to land any solid physical attacks. Their only choice was to run away until they had a plan.

"So tell me Raijin, did you think of anything yet?" Raigeki asked, dodging another Mud Shot attack.

Raijin grew incredibly irritated. "I didn't have a plan the last ten thousand times you asked me, what makes you think I would have one now!?"

"It was worth a shot." Raigeki shrugged.

"Muuuudddd….SHOT!" Boomer shot another round of Mud Shots at incredible velocity, breaking through whatever it hit.

_SPLAT!_

"Agh!" Raijin got hit from the back, tumbling forward. The blow felt like a hit from a cannon ball.

Raigeki stopped running to see the fallen Raichu. "Raijin!"

"Dammit, that Mud Shot is no joke." Raijin gritted his teeth as he tried to stand up. His back was in great pain from a single Mud Shot. _'This is bad. Boomer has every single elemental advantage over us. Even though it's part water, the additional ground-type element negates our attacks. It has decent long range and short range attacks, so it's not like we can just find a tactical advantage. Hmm…'_ Raijin glanced ahead at the path they were following. "Raigeki, let's keep going that direction. Hurry!" Raijin dashed ahead with Raigeki, dodging Boomers attacks in the process.

A few minutes later, Raigeki and Raijin reached a clearing. Not too far ahead was a cavern. Raijin slid to a halt, soon followed by Raigeki. For some reason, Boomer was nowhere to be found. "Where did that thing go?" Raigeki glanced left and right for it, but to no avail.

Something caught Raijin's eye at his feet. Why was his shadow getting bigger and bigger…? "LOOK OUT!" He tackled Raigeki in the nick of time.

_CRASH!_

Boomer's Body Slam created a small crater. Had any of them gotten hit by that attack, it would've been game over. "Ssssstaaaannndd sssttiiiiilll…" Boomer hissed.

"Like hell!" Raigeki snapped. The Pikachu began analyzing the Water Fish Pokémon. The Pokémon's body was built like a wide cylinder. There were only so many points that could be effective for a physical attack. Unfortunately for them, Boomer also knew this. Whenever Raigeki or Raijin would come close to making a direct hit, Boomer would move just enough to make them slip up. However, if Boomer was a bit more stationary… "I think we had enough running for the day. Let's fight!"

"Oh? Did that little brain of yours actually think of something?"

"Heh, more than yours did." Raigeki countered.

"Hmph, touché. I'm game." Raijin got into a fighter position, his paws placed firmly in front of his body.

"Follow my lead, if you can! Agility!" Raigeki shot towards Boomer with lightning quick speed.

"Muuuuuddd….SHOT!" Boomer fired off a Mud Shot at Raigeki, but the Pikachu dodged and continued dashing towards Boomer.

"Here I go, Headbutt!" Raigeki launched himself head first at Boomer.

The Quagsire moved to the side, dodging the headlong attack. "Yooouuu mmmiiiisssssseeedd…" Boomer didn't notice how Raigeki flipped and landed on a tree, using the recoil to bounce back.

_WHAM!_

"Ooowwww…" Boomer groaned, getting struck behind the head.

_SMACK!_

"Ack!" Raigeki got hit by Boomer's thick tail, sending him flying off.

"Skull Bash!" Raijin shot off like a rocket, aiming at the Quagsire. Boomer managed to catch sight of Raijin at the nick of time and move a few inches to the side. The attack, though connected, did no damage since Raijin slipped off and flew in another direction. Mimicking Raigeki's counter, Raijin bounced off a tree and flew back at Boomer.

This time, however, Boomer had other plans. "Muuuudddd….SHO—"

"FLASH!" Raijin yelled, suddenly brimming brightly.

"Mmmyyyyy eeeeyyyeeesss….!" Boomer bellowed, covering its eyes.

_WHAM!_

The Skull Bash collided with Boomer's stomach, making it crash into the cavern wall. Boomer shook its head while peeling itself off the wall. "Thhhaaattt…hhhuuurrrttt…" The water/ground-type started inhaling deeply, preparing for a powerful attack. "Muuuudddd…SHOT RAPID!" The Mud Shots came out like a machine gun, many volleys a second.

_SPLAT! SPLAT!_

Raijin and Raigeki did the best they could, but couldn't dodge the insane amount of mud that start firing at them. The attacks did high damage to the two, given the strong density, velocity, and elemental weakness combined. Boomer gave them no time for a counter attack, for it started inhaling again. It was a Water Gun this time, but Boomer didn't aim it at them, but rather the wall. This allowed Boomer to propel itself into the two Pokémon.

_CRASH!_

The two electric rodents were slammed into a rock, breaking it into pieces. Fatigued, they dropped onto the ground, battered and weakened. "Loooosssseeerrrsss…" Boomer taunted, enjoying its victory over the two.

"Heh, it's…not over yet…" Raigeki struggled to stand up, bloody and injured.

Raijin was in no better shape, panting heavily. "That's right. We're not down and out just yet."

"Fooolllliissshh…" Boomer stood over them, preparing for one final Mud Shot attack.

"NOW!" Raigeki and Raijin dashed to Boomer's side and tripped the water fish, making it fall on its back. They jumped high in the air and plummeted onto the fallen Quagsire. "MEGA KICK!

_WHAM!_

"Pwa!" Boomer spat out the inhaled Mud Shot, sending it endlessly into the air. Raijin and Raigeki looked up at the ball of mud that went up. They slowly stepped away from Boomer, who was unable to move due to the critical Mega Kicks it received. The mud ball returned with devastating force.

_BOOM!_

The Quagsire was plunged deeper into the earth, falling unconscious. Boomer had lost the battle.

"Aw man…that was annoying!" Raijin sighed, falling on his back.

Raigeki couldn't agree more, extremely exhausted. "Tell me about it. All of that battling, and I didn't get a single item, treasure or anything!"

Raijin sweat-dropped massively. "Just what do you think this is, anyway...?"

The battles going on elsewhere were just as fierce, especially with Baiken and Hayate.

"Blaze Kick!" Baiken delivered a strong series of rapid, burning kicks at Shinju, who blocked the attacks with precision and skill.

_SPLASH!_

"AH!" Baiken was blown back by a strong Water Gun from the Poliwrath, which did super-effective damage.

"Arm Thrust!" Hayate started striking Shinji with powerful arm strikes, pushing him back.

Shinju found an opening and dove in to attack. "Dynamic PUNCH!"

_POW!_

Hayate was tossed through several trees, landing roughly on the ground. It took time for Hayate to recover, temporarily dazed. "Is this all you two got? I'm sufficiently disappointed." The battle had been going on for over 10 minutes, yet neither Baiken nor Hayate did much damage to the skilled fighter.

"Ugh, what's going on? I know I've trained hard enough. What am I missing…?" Baiken tiredly tossed Shinju and analytical look. She knew she was giving this battle everything she got, and felt she could beat Shinju without Hayate's help. However, Shinju proved much stronger than Baiken, and overpowered her quickly. Hayate, on the other hand, while he proved to be very powerful, couldn't match up to Shinju's speed and agility with his bulky body. The best option was obvious, but would her pride allow such a thing? Before she could come to grips with herself, she saw a jet of water being propelled at her. She guarded herself from getting doused, only to see something wide block the water attack from Shinju. A gasp escaped from her lips. "Hayate!"

Hayate scowled as he blocked the high pressure Water Gun attack from Shinju. "Hayate realizes best way to beat Shinju, but despises the idea. However, Shinju prove to be very powerful opponent. For this time only, Hayate suggest working with Baiken to defeat opponent." He glanced behind at Baiken, his eyes serious about the decision.

"…You too, huh? Well, I also hate the idea, but I guess I'll allow it just this once." Taking the offensive, Baiken jumped on top of Hayate's shoulders and bounced at Shinju, spinning her body into a rolling kick.

"Hmph, useless!" Shinji prepared to block and counter Baiken when he saw Hayate dashing at him. The Poliwrath dove forward to dodge the Rolling Kick and blocked the Arm Thrust from Hayate, getting pushed back. While blocking Hayate, Shinju couldn't stay focused on the Blaziken.

Baiken landed on a tree and kicked off of it, heading towards Shinji with her fist raised. "Fire Punch!"

_SMACK!_

Shinju was knocked forward by the attack. Because of that, he was unable to block the powerful thrust heading his way. "Shi—"

_POW!_

Shinju was sent hurdling towards a tree, knocking it down with the force. Standing up, he shook his head and glared at the two, who took a back-to-back stance. "Oh? Looks like you two thought of a new trick. But if you think you can defeat by with your combined efforts, I shall make sure to obliterate you." He dashed forward, his fist being covered in ice. "Ice Punch!"

"I'll take care of this, Fire Punch!" Baiken ran forward with blazing fist. Shinju tossed two punches at Baiken, who ducked and thrust her Fire Punch at Shinju. The Poliwrath sidestepped the attack and punch downward. Luckily, Baiken rolled out of the way, avoiding the icy blow. "Low Kick!" The fowl Pokémon performed a low sweep with her leg, which Shinju jumped over. The Poliwrath was about to land on Baiken with a jump kick when a huge red hand swung upwards at him.

_SMACK!_

"Argh!" Shinju was sent flying high, unable to block the move. Baiken and Hayate quickly got into position.

"Ready, Hayate?"

"Hayate was born ready! Helping Hand!" The Hariyama grabbed onto Baiken's hand and started spinning her until they got a high enough speed. He then tossed the flaming chicken into the sky, flying at the dazed Poliwrath.

Baiken pumped her muscles and held back her fist, putting all of her might into this single attack. "SKY UPPERCUT!"

_WHAM!_

"WAAAH!" Poliwrath was sent high into the sky, disappearing in the twinkle of an eye.

Baiken started falling from the sky, thankfully being caught by Hayate. To her, Hayate felt like a humongous pillow, comfortable to land on. "That was perfect! Good work Hayate." Baiken gave Hayate the thumbs up, who nodded.

"Hayate and fire fowl must return to home base. Much to be discussed."

"Alright, let's go." While walking back, Baiken noticed something odd and was quick to speak. "You can put me down anytime, you know!"

Hayate answered while looking ahead. "Hayate honors your valor and courage against powerful enemy. Hayate unable to keep up with speed, but you assist. Hayate always pay back depth owed, but this is one time only."

"Ah, I see. Well…carry on!" Baiken joked, intentionally making a pun. She decided to make herself comfortable on her mobile couch. _'Hmm…this feels kinda good…'_ Her face soon turned into a scowl. "Hayate…move your hand this instant…!" She growled with a blush on her face.

"…Hayate apologizes."

Back at the home base, there were major battles going on, mainly with Yamaga and Kurosaki. The Slowking's psychic powers were extremely powerful, enough to keep both Akira and Fiona at bay. Megumi's attacks were slightly effective against the psychic, but didn't do sufficient enough damage to get the first admiral's interest. During the battle, Yamaga used his powers to seek what was going out with his other squads. It would seem that Krakken and Kabuto were doing fairly well against their opponents while Hellray was holding his own. However, Boomer and Shinju had lost their battles. The last thing he needed were reinforcements to annoy him further. '_This might be troubling. I'll have to see that these fools are killed before they arrived. Given their fatigue and speed, I'll have to say we have 10 minutes._' Yamaga turned to Kurosaki, who was thrashing his pincers at the three agile Pokémon in front of him. "Kurosaki! Boomer-kun and Shinju-kun have been defeated! Stop fooling around and kill them before their friends return."

"You got it!" Kurosaki answered back, facing his opponents. "I hope ur ready for a poundin', cuz I'm done messin' around wit ya! Swift!" The giant lobster shot dozens of star-shaped rays at Shadow, who was struck back by the super fast attack. "Hehehe, Swift be a mighty good attack, boy! Ya can't dodge it!"

Shadow growled as he jumped back, glaring at Kurosaki. '_Damn it all. I can avoid most of his attacks with speed, but his defense is too high for me to do any real damage._' He glanced worriedly at Esca, who was holding up a psychic barrier to block the oncoming swift attacks. _'Esca-san's a psychic type. Her powers don't work against dark types, putting her at a disadvantage. Yoko-san…I don't know a thing about her, but Sneasels have ice-type attacks. I'm not sure how effect that will be. Maybe if I can find a weakness…'_ Shadow started using agility to try and circle around the Crawdaunt. Given Kurosaki's shape, it would be tough for it to turn quickly.

But that was disproved quickly by Kurosaki.

Kurosaki jumped in the air and made a 180-degree turn. "Crabhammer!" With a slam, he sent a blue wave ripping through the sand at Shadow. The attack struck Shadow, who was blown away by the attack.

Shadow fell to the ground on his side, gritting angrily at the pain induced by the Crabhammer. It was a powerful blow, suitable to the second admiral of Sukaku's army. He was about to get up when Kurosaki quickly grabbed up with his pincers, capturing the dark dog. "Damn it…I was careless…" Shadow started howling in pain as Kurosaki started crushing him.

"Hehehe, I'm gonna break ya bones, little boy!" The lobster laughed haughtily, preparing to crush Shadow to death.

_SLASH!_

"Ack!" Kurosaki shut his eyes as Yoko slashed across his face. At that point, Esca leapt and tackled the pincer holding Shadow, freeing the Moonlight Pokémon.

Being freed, Shadow stared at his savoir, ecstatic. "Esca-san…! You saved me! Thank—"

"Stop being childish and fight." Esca warned, running back into battle.

"Ah…!" Shadow gawked in shock, rendered speechless. The words repeated over and over in his head, a feeling of futility washing over him. She just called him childish…

"Hey!" Yoko yelled, snapping Shadow back into reality. "Quit spacing out and help us!"

"Ah, right, I'm coming!" Shadow got back into battle mode and proceeded to fight Kurosaki.

With Fiona, Akira and Megumi, they were having trouble with the powerful Yamaga. If Yamaga's Mirror Coat ability wasn't annoying enough, his water and psychic attacks were wearing them down. The three Pokémon fighting the powerful water/psychic rambled their brains into coming up with a plan to get advantage. Megumi was the first to develop an idea and started flying at Yamaga.

Yamaga snorted. "So, the weakest one of the three decides a head-on attack? Not very smart. Psychic!" Yamaga fired off a powerful Psychic attack, which followed Megumi's plan.

'_Okay, now if I can get close enough…'_ Megumi ran head first into the Psychic attack, bringing her dangerously close to defeat. Once she was in range, her plan was set in motion. "Pain Split!"

"What the—Arg!" Yamaga winced as he felt his life being drained away into Megumi.

"Great idea, Megumi-chan!" Akira praised.

"What's Pain Split?" Fiona asked, confused.

"Pain Split is the ability to level out the health levels between the user and opponent and make them equal. Megumi-chan waited until she was heavily injured to give it maximum efficiency. This means that Megumi's health is better and that Slowking's health is around half its normal. It was a dangerous gamble, but she pulled through. Also, you can't counter it with Mirror Coat because it isn't an attack."

"Tch, not bad. I'd forgotten about such an irritating attack, but if you're killed off first, that won't work." Yamaga began channeling strong psychic energy, enough so that Megumi would be wiped out.

"Fiona-san, Akira-san! I have a plan! Go ahead and attack him!"

Akira saw the look on Megumi's face. Though she was fairly weak in offensive ability, her special attacks were deadly if applied properly. _'Ah, I get it. Very clever, Megumi-chan.'_ He glanced at Fiona at the corner of his eye. "Fiona-san, be prepared to use a powerful psychic attack. We're attacking now!" Akira started rushing at Yamaga, as did Fiona.

"Hmph, no matter. I'll finish off the ghostly annoyance before dealing with you two. Psyc—"

"Destiny Bond!" Megumi shouted.

"Shi—" Yamaga quickly aimed the Psychic attack away so it would miss. Within that time, he saw a Psychic attack coming from Fiona's direction. _'I get it. They're trying to distract me with Destiny Bond so I'll be delayed in using it. However, once I use Mirror Coat, I can destroy you fools.'_ Yamaga flashed his arms, creating Mirror Coat.

"THUNDER PUNCH!" Akira yelled, leaping at Yamaga.

"What!?" Yamaga paled, glancing at the Kadabra coming from behind. Since Thunder Punch was a physical attack, Mirror Coat wouldn't work. It also didn't help that he was weak to electric attacks.

_ZAP!_

"Gwah!" Yamaga was struck on the face by a powerful, electric punch. The attack broke through his Mirror Coat, allowing Fiona to do the final blow.

"PSYCHIC!" Fiona called, shooting a blast at Yamaga. The attack hit dead-on, doing critical damage on Yamaga.

After the attacks were done, Yamaga was severely weakened. "I didn't suspect a three-way combination. Hmph, not bad. You've won this day, but we'll be back. And once we return, you all will die! Kurosaki, we're leaving."

"Oy, I was just startin' to have some fun out here!" Once Kurosaki saw the angry look on Yamaga's face, he immediately changed his mind. "I-I-I mean, s-sure! Let's go!" The Crawdaunt pointed his pincer at his small opponents. "Don't be gettin' any funny ideas that you might've won! We just be takin' a break from all the fightin'. We'll be back to squash yall later!" Kurosaki grabbed the injured Yamaga and started running into the forest. "Get goin' ya grunts! We're headin' back to da cave!"

"Yes sir!" The remaining forces ran after the fleeting Crawdaunt and injured Slowking.

"Agh, that was exhausting." Kiza dropped on the ground, thoroughly tired.

"I have no idea what that was about, but I just hope they don't come back." Takumi sighed.

"Hmm…I hardly doubt the danger's over. It's like they said, it's only a break. We need to make sure their reinforcements don't come to hunt us down." Kyo sat down, conjuring up a plan.

"Wait a moment…" Fiona spoke up, "If I remember correct, that Crawdaunt said something about heading back to the cave…"

"Fiona-san's right. We need to shut down their cave, which should hold them long enough for us to regroup with the others." Akira glanced at the entrance they took to get to the island. "The path we took earlier is still submerged in water. Given the enemies we just faced were water types, swimming would not be a good option."

"I have an idea. Let me try communicating with the others and see if they found a cave. That way, we can reinforce them and plan ahead." Fiona closed her eyes and started focusing her telepathic abilities. Since Yamaga was weakened, she didn't need to worry about any interference. A minute of searching passed before she found several entities. Around the sea's coast was Meizu and Mikado. Somewhere midland was one of the other land team, Shizuka and Zohl. Those four energies showed signs of struggle and alert, meaning they were either in battle or deep trouble, possibly both. It would seem that Haku and Kaoru also had problems. Baiken and Hayate were safe and heading on their way back. That left only one group remaining…

Raigeki and Raijin.

Speaking of which, the two were having a _friendly_ conversation with each other. "You freaking lunatic! I should kill you for almost getting us killed!" Raijin chastised

"At least I was being brave! All you were doing is hiding in a corner!"

"Hiding!? No one but you is stupid enough to run headfirst into an army of Pokémon!"

"Hey, hey, hey, you can sugar-coat it all you want, but you were still hiding."

"I, you, they were…ARG!" Raijin was getting a headache just talking to the ignorant rodent. He was moments from strangling Raigeki when a voice echoed in their minds.

"_Cut it out both of you! This is no time for arguments. We have an emergency situation on our hands!"_ Fiona chided.

"Oh. My. God!" Raigeki's eyes grew wide. "…I'm hearing voices in my head!"

Raijin face-faulted. Could Raigeki be any dumber? "You dunderhead! It's that psychic chick! She's giving us a message!"

'_Since when did I become 'that psychic chick'?' _Fiona thought grimly, _"Anyway, you two got some big trouble heading your way! Raigeki-kun, Raijin-san, hide, now! If you're caught, you two are as good as dead!"_

"I agree. We got beat up pretty good from that stupid Quagsire. We're in no shape to fight off more bad guys. But what do we do after that?" Raijin asked.

"_There should be a cave in front of you, correct? You'll need to create a cave-in that'll trap them inside. That'll prevent them from breaking out for the time being. Oh, and Raigeki-kun…if you mess this up, I'll come over there and kick your ass from here back to Arcadia!" _Fiona hissed the last part so threateningly, it scared even Raijin.

"Eep! Y-y-yes ma'am!" Raigeki wised up, not wanting Fiona's wrath.

"Man, that's one scary woman! OKay, let's get moving! Hurry up slowpoke!" Raijin started running ahead.

Raigeki gave him a stare. "Hey….I'm a Pikachu!"

"Arg!" Raijin tripped and fell comically, "Dammit, just get your friggin' tail over here!"

"Yeah, yeah. Sheesh!" Raigeki thus followed Raijin to a nearby hiding spot. A few patient minutes later, a large group enemy water Pokémon marched their way inside the cave. Towards the back of the line, a Wartortle glanced to the side of the cave, noticing something odd.

Since when did rocks have yellow tails?

"Hmm…" The Wartortle armed itself and slowly walked over to the place, which unluckily was where the two electric mice were hiding. "Who's there?"

Raijin, who was lying next to Raigeki, just noticed how much Raigeki's tail stuck out. "Dammit, Raigeki, it sticks out too much! Tuck it in!" Raijin demanded in a loud hiss.

"I can't help if it's that long! I'm a growing Pikachu!"

The Wartortle, unable to see what was going on, was immediately getting the wrong idea. "What the hell…?" He started walking faster until he looked over the rock and could see them clearly.

"Get. In. There. Damn. It!" Raijin yelled, pushing Raigeki's tail down from behind.

Raigeki was making pained expression. "Not so hard! Be gentle with that thing!" From the Wartortle's perspective, the whole thing was just plain disturbing to watch.

"If you didn't have it hanging out in the open, then we wouldn't be…" Raijin slowed his sentence to a stop once he noticed a shadow on top of Pikachu. He looked up to see a Wartortle.

Only this particular Wartortle had a paled expression, and strangely enough, a nosebleed.

"S-s-sorry to interrupt you two. L-let's just pretend I saw nothing." The Wartortle waved off, aghast and disgusted.

Raijin's face started losing color, realizing what the Wartortle was thinking. Hell, he would rather get caught and killed then have someone be thinking _that_. "N-n-no, don't misunderstand! I'm just trying to—"

"No! God no, please, no details! I'll be leaving now!" The Wartortle hurried along the back line, never again to have a good night sleep.

"Ah…of all the…!" Raijin was speechless, unable to process what had just occurred. Never in his life did he feel more embarrassed.

Raigeki got up and gave his rivaling Pokémon an inquisitive look. "What's with you? You look horrified."

"…That's a subtle way of putting it…" Raijin shook his head furiously, shaking out the shock. "Alright, there's no time. Let's seal up this cave before trouble—"

_WHOOSH!_

Raigeki and Raijin ducked under something flying down at close proximity. Looking up, they saw a Mantine swooping passed them, followed by a Pidgeotto. "Come back, young heathen! Your punishment has not been fulfilled!" Kaoru yelled, barrel rolling at the flying Mantine.

"Aw what the hell!?" Raijin threw his hands up in frustration. This day was getting way out of hand.

"Tell me about it!" Raigeki was just as angry. "All of this, and I STILL haven't found any treasure!"

"WOULD YOU FORGET THE DAMN TREASURE ALREADY!?" Raijin yelled.

"Yeowch! There's no need to yell." Raigeki rubbed his ears, pained from the loud yell.

_SLASH!_

A tree in the distance fell down, appearing from the bushes Zohl, Shizuka, and the enemy attacker Kabuto. The three were in a battle of blades, clashing repeatedly.

"Zohl-kun!"

"Shizuka-chan!" Raigeki and Raijin called at the same time.

Zohl didn't even bother to glance at the two, but was relieved. "I'm glad you all are alright, but I would love to have a hand over here! HIYA!" He slashed at Kabuto with his bone club, only for the Pokémon to jump over the attack and slash downward. The bone keeper was about to get struck when Shizuka leapt with a Slash attack, clashing Kabuto's scythes. "Good job, Shizuka…-san!" He added at the last second, almost forgetting Raijin was close by.

"Thank you Zohl-sempai!" Shizuka started fighting back harder, encouraged by Zohl.

"Hold up! -Sempai? When did he become a –sempai?" Raijin interjected heatedly.

"Who cares? Let's hurry up and help them out!" Raigeki started to run towards his allies to assist in the battle, only to jump back from a Thunderbolt attack striking the ground in front of him. He looked back at the cavern entrance, only to be confused. There was nothing out of the ordinary. His mouth opened to gasp once he saw another Thunderbolt being thrown at him.

The mountain was attacking them.

"Wait a second…" Raijin narrowed his eyes, focusing his sharp eyes. When another Thunderbolt was emitted, he noted sparks coming from small crevices, along with the sparkling of something shiny.

A jewel.

"Dammit, Staryus!" Raijin dodged an electric attack by rolling to the side.

"Thundershock!" Raigeki used the attack against the spot where the Thunderbolt came from. When the attack caused a crack in the mountain, 6 star shaped Pokémon emerged from the cracks into the air, along with one bigger, purple star shaped Pokémon, a Starmie.

"_INTRUDERS DETECTED. ENGAGE TARGET AND ELIMINATE_." The Starmie spoke robotically.

"About time the sentry activated." Hellray grumbled, evading one of Kaoru's attacks. "Now that they're activated, the others will be notified and come storming out of that cave within 10 minutes."

Raigeki gritted his teeth. _'Shoot! I'm still pretty tired from that battle with Boomer. If the other guys come out, we're done for!'_ He looked over at Raijin, who gave him a knowing look. He too understood the dire situation on their hands. "Oh well, this just means we have 10 minutes to beat the crap out of these guys and shut down that cave."

"While I agree with that plan, what about the others? This job will be easier we help defeat their opponents."

"That's true, but with those Staryus floating around, that might cause more harm than good."

"Don't worry about us, just shut down that cave before reinforcements arrive! Ngh!" Zohl blocked a Slash attack and countered with his bone club, but missed.

"Your chivalry is admirable, young ones, but enemy threat takes priority. Rid us of these nuisances in the name of justice!" Kaoru cried, swooping past and around Hellray and his weaponry.

"Alright, I'm counting on you guys." Raigeki yelled in confirmation.

"Look out, because here they come!" Raijin warned, watching the star Pokémon swarm at this. Their bodies started rotating at high speeds, turning them into deadly discus.

Raijin and Raigeki's battle had suddenly turned into a deadly dance.

Within the shadows of the brush lurked an intruder unknown to both parties. He lay in wait the entire time, absorbing information. "Hmm…so this is where Sukaku lives, huh? If my sources are correct, then tonight is when…" The young lad thumbed his chin thoughtfully, his crimson eyes observing the battle. They had a sense of strong longing in them. "…Maybe for old times sake. Just this once." The sound of three clicks could be heard, as well as the summoning of Pokémon…

Fiona gasped with a start, sensing something she hadn't noticed earlier. It was a dreadful feeling that made her heart wrench. "What is this…power…?" She looked over Akira, who didn't seem to notice. Was she the only one who noticed the feeling? "Akira-san, do you feel anything?"

"…No."

"I can feel it…this energy…could it be?" Fiona turned to face the direction of the source. It was unmistakable, but at the same time, impossible. Without a moment to waste, she took off in the direction, leaving some of her friends bewildered with her sudden haste. She ignored the questions and continued running. Unknown of the territory she was heading towards, she didn't want to use up her energy to teleport there, forced to run. Something within her was telling her to run, run as fast as she could. _'…Is it really you…? Did you come back to us…?'_

Akira shook his head sadly. He could only hope the poor girl didn't witness what he already knew…

Back at the cavern entrance, Zohl and Shizuka were having trouble defeating the Kabutops. Shizuka was too weak to battle on and fell unconscious after receiving a slash on the chest. "Shizuka!" Zohl ran to her side, worried for his ally.

"Hmph, you're next." Kabuto raised his sickle to slash Zohl.

_SLASH!_

"Arg!" Kabuto stumbled forward, receiving a slash on its back. "Who the hell did tha—" He froze in mid sentence upon sight of a very dark, bloodthirsty Scyther. The mere sight of the Scyther's killing intent made Kabuto freeze with fright. "W…wha…what are you?"

"…Your executioner." The Scyther answered coldly.

_STAB!_

"Gack!" Kabuto paled as a thick scythe tunneled through his tough chest, the blade ripping through its body like paper. Another blade swung down on its head, splitting it into two halves. The Kabutops died a brutal death.

Zohl felt sick to his stomach at the sight, thanking the gods that Shizuka wasn't awake to see the horrid scene. His body stiffened once the Scyther's murderous eyes landed on him and Shizuka. "…Look you, I don't know who you are, but I won't let you lay a blade on Shizuka."

"…Not worth the effort." The Scyther answered after a long pause.

Zohl's eyes narrowed, holding onto his bone club cautiously. He knew that voice, no matter how dark it had grown. "…You're Vashuna, aren't you?"

The Pokémon grinned. "…About time you remembered."

Zohl dropped his bone club, stunned. "It…i-it really is you, but…why did you…?"

"Hmph, you mean that pile of trash at my feet? Merely meat that needed to be slaughtered. I wasn't ordered to kill you, and neither are my friends. So you needn't worry about that."

"…Friends?" Zohl whirled around to see what he was talking about.

In the skies, Kaoru and Haku were put into a disadvantage once Haku ran out of long range attacks, being at Hellray's mercy. "You're mine!" Hellray prepared to fire the shot that would finally down the Pidgeotto and Kecleon once and for all. "Aurora Be—" He didn't have time to finish once a certain Shedinja instantly appeared before him, a ball of dark energy charging up in its halo. Hellray could only stare in terror as the Shedinja called out its attack.

"Shadow Blast."

_ZAM!_

The attack connected, so powerful it pierced through the Kite Pokémon, killing it instantly. The flying manta fell as two halves of its once full being.

"What power…!" Haku sweated, watching with wide eyes.

"Haku-kun…we must be wary of those who possess that power. That could easily be us in the future." Kaoru advised wisely. He and Haku saw such power times before, and the feeling of fear at the overwhelming power never changed.

The Shedinja merely glared before fading from sight.

With Raigeki and Raijin, their electric attacks were useless against the 7 stars, since they were able to absorb electricity with their specialized bodies. The two were in the middle of planning when something zipped past them so fast; they were barely able to detect it. They only heard a voice for a single instant. "Shadow Blitz." The movements were amazingly quick. The 7 sentries were quickly dispatched, their jewels being sliced in half, along with their bodies. The speedy entity stopped flying around, making itself known to the Pikachu and Raichu.

"Its…its…Riku!" Raigeki pointed at the Ninjask, his face in shock.

'_Man, this is bad. If that thing fights us, we're all dead!'_ Raijin thought fearfully. The darker than normal Ninjask gave the two a wavering glance before zipping off again, disappearing.

From behind them stood a powerful, dark colored Marshtomp, who had an evil stare, focusing on the cave entrance. The Pokémon started inhaling deeply. "…Shadow Chill." And then shot a condensed, deadly ice attack at the cavern entrance. The blast not only destroyed the entrance, but coated it in black ice, colder than the eyes of the user.

"K-Kusanagi too!? What's going on?" Though Raigeki had a million questions to ask, Kusanagi merely left without saying a word.

"In…incredible…" Zohl breathed, awed by the power those Pokémon had acquired. But it was sad to watch those who were once honorable Pokémon act like killing machines. "Vash-kun…what has happened to you?"

"Much has happened. I won't deny the times we've spent together in the past. This is a small token of our appreciation. The next time you see us, you will be the victims." Vash turned around to leave, only to be blocked by an unexpected visitor.

It was Fiona.

"So…it really is you…" Fiona took in large breaths, fatigued from the running.

Vash tried to hide it, but he was especially surprised to see her. If anything, she was the last person he wanted to see. It didn't help that she seemed so…happy to see him. _'Fiona…'_ His real voice echoed, beating against his ill will.

Fiona was about to step forward when she smelt fresh blood emanating from Vash's vicinity. She took notice to the blood dripping from his claws. Her faced immediately changed to worry. "Vash, what has happened to you?" She frowned when she didn't receive an answer, taking a step forward.

"Stay back!" Vash shouted, the darkness in his voice thick. Fiona almost did, visibly jumping from Vash's yelling. Vash started trembling. "You…you won't be able to understand…no one can."

"Then let me try! I'm not going to give up on you if that is what you hoping!" Fiona stated sternly.

"I'm no longer the same person you knew. Things are different now then what you believe."

"Even if you have changed, let me know the person you are now. Let me know everything! If there's something going on, I'll do my best! We all will! Give us a chance…"

"NO!" Vash swiped his scythe in anger, not aiming to cut anything down. His eyes took a side glance, finding his trainer hiding amongst the shadows. The assailant held up a single finger. _'…One minute is all I got. I'll make the best of it.'_ He quickly changed his focus to the struggling Gardevoir. "Fiona, I'm only going to tell you this once. This will be the last time we meet under friendly circumstances. The next time we meet, I will have no choice but…to kill you."

"Vash…!" The shock and pain from those words were strong and frightening, bringing tears to her eyes. "Please, don't say such horrible things. We're friends. You have no idea how much we missed you and the others. Without you, I…I just…"

'…_It's for the best…'_ Vash turned around, unable to see her face without breaking from the inside. "Fiona…you must grow stronger. You've been doing that well so far. You and Haruka must get as strong as possible. There is no doubt that in the future, we will have to face each other. There are some problems in this world that's beyond the help of words. This is one of them. You have until the end of the first term to get stronger. If you and Haruka truly want to help us…" Vash started to walk away, his face filled with grief. "…You will have to kill us."

"VASH, NO!" Fiona ran to Vash, embracing him from behind. She no longer held back the sad emotions, sobbing. "Please Vash…stop talking like that. You really don't know how much it hurts to hear that…" Vash could say nothing, his teeth gnashing against each other in protest to his inner desire. "Haruka…she needs Yuuki. She needs to be with him. Just like …how I need you to be with me…"

"Fiona…" A mix of rage and sorrow surged through Vash's body, seeping out in the form of tears. "If…if it was that easy…we would've been back by now. I really do want to return and be with you and the others. You have no idea how much I've missed and cherished the times we had together. But…it is too late." He pushed her back, causing her to break from the embrace. "Get stronger. Be better. Become powerful, enough to stop us. Maybe by then, there will be more answers." He wished with all his might that he could've stayed in that blissful embrace for a little while, but knew it wasn't going to happen.

Time was up.

"Farewell…Fiona…"

"Vash, wait!" Fiona's cries reached no one as Vash vanished from sight. She fell on her knees, unable to believe what had just transpired.

"Fiona-chan…" Raigeki's ears drooped, also despaired by what he had just seen.

"Let's go everyone." Raijin said suddenly, gesturing his teammates. He picked up the unconscious Sandslash and started trekking back to the home base along with the others. All that were left was Raigeki, Zohl and Fiona.

'_That…was heavy. Poor Fiona-chan.'_ Raigeki really wanted to say something, but he wasn't the best with delicate words.

"Fiona-chan…" Zohl spoke up. "I think…Vash-kun was trying to help us, in more way than one." Fiona glanced up with damp, hopeful eyes as he continued. "He said it himself. He really wanted to come back, but couldn't. If he requires that you and Haruka-san be stronger, then that is what you must do."

"But Zohl-kun! Didn't Vash-kun say that because he wanted them to…you know…"

Zohl closed his eyes, contemplating on Raigeki's comment. "That might've been a dramatic way of saying 'beat some sense into us'. Given those dark markings and colorations on the skin, I think they were affected with the Shadow Seal, a Pokémon's version of the Curse Seal. It disrupts your mentality by a great amount. It's very powerful. However, seeing how he addressed us, that means it can be beaten. But there lies a problem. He can't do it alone. Fiona-chan." He knelt in front of Fiona, keeping level eye contact. "Vash-kun needs your help to overcome the evil that is slowly taking over him and the others. Do you have what it takes to help him defeat it?"

"…I don't know, but…" Fiona stood up, drying her tears. "But I won't give up. I put everything I have into helping Vash be rid of the Shadow Seal!"

"Alright! That's the spirit!" Raigeki praised. He elbowed the bone keeper Pokémon slyly. "I wouldn't expect anything less from the great Zohl-_sempai_!"

Fiona tossed Zohl a curious glance. "Zohl-sempai?"

"Ah, well…you see…there's a good a very good reason for that…" Zohl stammered.

"Of course there is. I'll bet Zohl-kun is teaching Shizuka the ways of love!" Raigeki joked.

"T-that's not it! Don't make fun of me!" Zohl growled, wearing a heavy blush under his helmet.

"Well, I'll have to admit, you two don't look that bad as a pair." Fiona considered. Then she smiled. "Aw, isn't that cute? Zohl-kun has a crush."

"Dammit, it's not like that between us! I'm her teacher, and that's it!" Zohl responded fiercely.

"You got that right. Go for it, Zohl-sempai. Show that girl how to make babies!" Raigeki cheered, laughing.

"Raigeki-kun…!" Zohl had enough of the jokes, swiping at the rodent with his bone club. "I'm gonna kill you!"

"Hahaha! Don't be embarrassed Zohl-sempai! A little lovin' will help get that stick out your butt!"

"RAIGEKIIIIII!!" The two ran into the forest, Raigeki running away from the thoroughly embarrassed Zohl. Fiona hurried after them, making sure Zohl doesn't kill Raigeki. Though, Fiona couldn't help but forget about something important.

Speaking of which…

"DAMN THESE FREAKING TENTACLES!" Mikado shrieked, entangled by many Tentacools. The giant Tentacruel was defeated by her and Meizu's combined efforts, but the Tentacool was still causing major problems.

"Mmm…tentacles…" Meizu had an estranged look on his face, drooling.

"You pervert! Stop thinking weird things and help me—OH MY GOD! WHAT ARE THEY TRYING TO DO TO ME!? EEK!" In a panic, Mikado broke free and started swimming to shore in a panic, followed by a wave of blushing Tentacools. One thing was certain; she was going to hate Tentacools for the rest of her life, as well as the extremely perverted Tentacruel leader.

"Hehehe, that was awesome! I'm gonna remember that for a lifetime!" Meizu swam after Mikado, the two returning to their comrades.

Within Sukaku's lair, the atmosphere wasn't nearly as joyful. "WHAT!?" Sukaku's voice thundered throughout the lair, causing the room to shake. "You mean to tell me some of my best soldiers were beaten by a group of punks!?" Sukaku stood up, his face fueled by unrestrained fury. "Gather the troops! Recall all of our forces at once! Tell them this message." Sukaku clenched his fist angrily, huffing at the thought of him and his land being humiliated by a group of Arcadian Pokémon.

"Tonight, I will personally lead our main armada to crush those fools once and for all!"

* * *

Once again, I am SO sorry for taking so long with these chapters! I hope you liked the amazing twist in this chapter (with a little bit of good humor here and there). I hope you may leave a review in place, letting me know whether you enjoyed this little chapter or not. Also, I would like to see your personal thoughts on the progress of this story and/or where you think this story is going. I love hearing from you guys. I hope to see you next time on Bushido League: Samurai's quest! 


	25. Love Tajiri: Sukaku's wrath

Disclaimer: Didn't I get the point across already? I don't own Pokémon.

First off, I would like to apologize for a few things, Mainly, for this chapter taking so bloody long to upload. Secondly, as many readers have informed me, for putting in too many characters. However, though I am still an aspiring writer, I will make sure to put more effort into making sure everything goes smoothly. So for those worried about infinite more characters popping out of nowhere, you may put your pen and paper down. Anyway, please keep in mind that I did not forget about this story at all. I merely need to rework my ideas for this fiction, optimizing it for greatness, one of the main reasons for it being updated so slowly.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

But anyhow, please enjoy.

* * *

"Hmm…I see. So that's where Sukaku resides." Kabushi nodded, listening to Raijin and Shizuka's story. It was nighttime, and the ocean moon was in full effect. Currently, he sat along the coast of the beach, talking with his two Pokémon. Raijin proceeded to talk about his findings on the nearby island which happened to be Sukaku's base. The red haired samurai was reasonably concerned with the matter. 

"We should be careful. They will probably attack us soon." Shizuka warned, standing next to Raijin.

"I'll keep that in mind. Thanks for scouting." Kabushi recalled the two Pokémon back into their respective balls, placing them back into his pockets. Not a moment later, he sighed tiredly. "Just great, more problems for this so called 'vacation'." It was evident he was frustrated by previous events, and the fact he would have to 'go to work' only added more fuel to the fire. So far, nothing had been going right for him. Whether it was the fact he was forced to spend time with his enemies or how his trust in his teammates was severed by deceit, he was having a very bad week.

"Kabu-kun?" A voice called out to him.

Speak of the devil. "What do you want?" He snapped.

'_I saw that one coming.' _Ayane sighed mentally. She didn't want their friendship to end over something so ridiculous, even if she was the one at fault. But, it was difficult to come up with the right words to apologize, given she wasn't the type to just throw her pride away for a simple apology. "About before…"

"What, you going to make fun of me now?"

At this, the white haired ninja was confused. "Wait…what?"

"It's obvious you all have been dying to take a shot at me. Go ahead, laugh, ridicule me, do whatever you want. I don't even care." Kabushi didn't dare to look, knowing his face was no longer able to hold back the pained look on his face.

Ayane had to take a minute to think over Kabushi's reaction. It was almost as if… "Wait a minute, no, no, no. It's nothing like that. I would never make fun of someone that would make art as fantastic as yours, and neither would Anji-kun or Ryu-kun!"

Kabushi slowly peeked at Ayane at the corner of his eye, filled with surprised curiosity. "Fantastic…?"

"Of course. Don't be silly, Kabu-kun. Who wouldn't think so?"

"…There had been times before," Kabushi could remember clearly the times he would proudly show one of his works of art in the past, only to have it thrown back in his face. Until recently, the only person who showed a liking for the things Kabushi loved was… "But that's irrelevant; this doesn't mean I forgive you for going through my belongings."

"I didn't think so. I'm not going to beg for your forgiveness, nor do I expect it anyway, but I do want to make up for it. So here." Ayane handed Kabushi a small book.

"Hm?" Kabushi accepted the book and glanced over the title. "The Silver Gemini. Interesting title." It was a hard cover, silver colored book. The texts were expertly carved into the front of the leather book. Kabushi tossed Ayane a questionable look.

"Go ahead, take a look."

"Sure." Kabushi flipped open the book and started skimming through the pages, making sure to take small glimpses of each page. His eyebrow rose slightly, showing interest. "This is rather impressive. Whoever the author is has done a very good job with this one. Hm?" He stopped at a blank page, which was halfway through the book. "Why is this incomplete?"

"That's because the book is unfinished. Time isn't on everyone's side."

"I see, but what does this book have to do with anything?" Kabushi wondered, not getting the point.

"It's right in front of you. Didn't you notice from the front cover?"

"On the front cover, what are you…!" The red headed samurai's green eyes widened slightly with great surprise. "This book…you wrote it?"

"As you can see, we aren't all that different." Ayane took the book back into her hands and turned around. "That's all I wanted to do. After all, there's nothing I can really do to apologize for putting you in great discomfort. But, it's better to do something than nothing at all, right?" She began walking away, waving haphazardly at Kabushi. "Enjoy your vaca—"

"Wait a second." Kabushi called out. Ayane stopped, giving him a halfway glance. Though he tried not to show it, he felt a little embarrassed with his next comment. "Could…you tell me more about your story? It…intrigues me."

Ayane couldn't help but smile. "Only if you can talk to us about your artwork."

"Fair enough."

'_I suppose that means I'm forgiven.'_ Ayane figured, taking a seat next to Kabushi. With that, the wall between the two finally dissolved, renewing their team spirit.

Elsewhere along the coast, Satoshi was standing with his sword held in front of him. His eyes held deep focus and concentration. Wearing only his lower hakama, a combination of sea water and sweat could be seen pouring down his body. He was practicing his latest technique, taught by his brother. It was a powerful technique, but he was not yet able to control it properly. "I'll give it one more try." Sliding his foot back, he held his blade in a sheathed position and lowered his body slightly. After preparing himself, he stepped forward—

"Satoshi?"

--And fell flat on his face. "Ow…" Satoshi groaned irritably, his face full of sand. Pushing himself up, he started spitting sand out of his mouth. "Geez, Kasumi. Can't you give a warning or something?"

Kasumi stifled a giggle, noticing his face and hair covered in sand. "I couldn't help it. You looked so serious."

"Yeah, I can SO see the humor in that." Satoshi fumed, sitting up and crossing his legs. "So what brings you here?"

Kasumi started shifting uncomfortably, suddenly nervous. "May I sit next to you?"

"Sure. Go ahead."

Kasumi took a seat, sitting next to the Team Tatsujin leader. Ever since her conversation with Sakura, she had a lot to think about. For the longest time, she had been avoiding the subject at all cost. Whether it would be a blessing or a curse, she was too afraid of uncertainty to push for an answer. Unfortunately, she soon realized that holding back was only going to cause her more pain in the future. It was time to face the music and tackle the subject at hand. Taking a deep breath, Kasumi began. "Um…Satoshi. First off…I would like to say, thanks."

"Hm? What for?"

Kasumi didn't answer immediately, but started to wring her hands nervously. Her heart was beating erratically for reasons she didn't know, her only clue being it involved Satoshi in some way. Waiting for her nerves to settle down, she started off slowly. "Before I joined the group, Furuura-chan was my only friend, but she was more of a security guard who would have. Though I had Furuura-chan and my sisters, I was still pretty lonely. Back then…I was actually a pretty quiet person and kept things to myself."

"Wait a sec, YOU a quiet person? When I met you, you almost took my head off!"

"Yeah, that's the thing. For some reason, at that moment, you just seemed to…well, spark a fire within me. Made me feel alive again. I passed the feeling off as just anger, but I think…I was just a little happy. Happy that someone noticed me rather than feared me. I've began to change a lot since I've met you, so different from the bitter person I used to be. You've done so much for me lately, and I'm starting to feel like I haven't been contributing enough."

"That's not true! You've done plenty of things!" Satoshi debated strongly. "You are a vital member of our team, Kasumi. You've always been able to cover my weaknesses and watch my back."

"That's not what I meant." Kasumi shook her head. Though Satoshi was perplexed, he waited for Kasumi to continue. "You know so much about me. You know my past, my strengths, and…just about everything there is to know. But, in a sense, I don't know nearly as much about you. I…what I want is…" There was a pause as Kasumi carefully picked out her words. "I want to get to know you more. I want to do the same for you as you've been doing for me this whole time." She carefully moved her hand over Satoshi's, gently grasping it. Her emerald eyes focused on Satoshi's brown ones, shimmering into the moonlight. It was full of honesty and fortitude. "What I'm trying to say is that I…I want to be there for you. I want to return the kindness and friendship you've shown me for the last few months. If there's anything you need or want to talk about, anything at all, don't hesitate to call out to me."

"Kasumi…" Satoshi felt touched by Kasumi's declaration, and it showed with his warm smile. "Don't be so worried about stuff like that. I get what you mean, but don't push yourself so hard." He fell back to stare at the small patches of clouds hovering by. "Just having you by my side is more than enough to make me happy. I don't need much more than that."

"Just stay by your side, huh?" Kasumi dropped back onto the sand as well, but rested her shoulder against Satoshi's. "I'm sure I can manage that." At that moment, there was nothing else she wanted to do but stay by Satoshi's side. If she was to be stuck with him for years to come, or even forever, she wouldn't have minded at all. Right now, she felt at peace, something she'd longed for since early childhood. If Satoshi could perform miracles like that for her, then he was worth every second of that sweet idea of forever.

Maybe she did have a chance at true happiness after all…

For what felt like hours, the two rested comfortably on the sandy beach, not a sound to be heard. But Satoshi noticed something peculiar. "That's weird." He said, narrowing his eyes at the night sky. "Those are really odd looking clouds."

"Hey, come to think of it, it's supposed to be clear tonight. Why would there be clouds?" Kasumi focused her eyes on the sight as well. Unlike the clouds she was used to, they were perfectly shaped ovals, similar shape to pills, floating in the sky. The sides were dark blue and the bottom was white. Either they were the strangest group of clouds they ever laid eyes on, or… "Wait a minute…those aren't clouds…they're…Wailords!"

"Wailords? You mean those giant blue whale things? What are they doing all the way out here!?" Something seemed terribly wrong about the situation, but he couldn't guess as to what it was. Three Wailords floated high in the sky, as daunting as dreadnoughts. Looking closer, Satoshi could see other Pokémon flying next to it, namely Mantines, Wingulls and Pelippers.

"Satoshi! Look!" Kasumi pointed at the sea. From it, several Pokémon started making appearances. Wartortles, Squirtles, Tentacools, and Octillerys emerged from the waters. The two turtle-type Pokémon were armed with swords, shields, and tridents. The Tentacools and Octillerys had steel nails equipped on their slender tentacles. It was obvious that this wouldn't be a warm greeting of Pokémon, but rather…

Both Satoshi and Kasumi stood up immediately, slowly taking steps back. Satoshi couldn't believe his eyes. "This is…an invasion! I can't even count how many water Pokémon there are."

"Over 200 coming up on shore and 100 from the sky." Kasumi answered.

"Err…yeah, thanks for the count…" As much as Satoshi wanted to say something insulting, it wasn't the time or place for it. "Kasumi, we have to run and warn the others!"

"It doesn't look like we're going to get the chance so easily. Look!" Kasumi pointed at the Wailords floating high in the sky. There, tiny objects could be seen falling down in the dozens. Her eyes widened in surprise at the identity of the objects.

Turtle shells.

CRASH!

12 Wartortle shells dropped down like cannonballs, crashing into the sandy beach. Light blue arms, legs, and a blue head with popped out of their respective exit points. The Wartortles quickly formed a circle around Satoshi and Kasumi, brandishing the various weapons strapped to their backs. "This beach will be your grave, human! ATTACK!" One of the Wartortles commanded, pointing his trident at the two targets. The small turtle Pokémon, along with the other units, charged furiously after the two Arcadian students.

With quick precision, Satoshi struck at the sand towards a small group of Wartortles running at them, blinding them temporarily. He made a swift dash at them, sheathing his sword while doing so. Once he was close enough, he quickly drew his sword and slashed at the turtles, causing a group of them to be sent flying. Glancing to his side, he noticed two Wartortles charging at him with tridents. Satoshi was prepared to counter attack when a voice yelled out an attack.

"Thundershock!"

_BZZT!_

"Arg!" The two Pokémon were quickly knocked out, zapped by the electric shock.

Satoshi whipped around, flashing his savoir a thumbs up. "Thanks for the save, Raigeki!"

"Don't count me out of the action!" Raigeki boasted.

"Will you two quit trying to act cool? This isn't the time or place for it! HIYA!" With a thrust of her palm, Kasumi cracked the shell of a Wartortle and sent it crashing into two other Wartortles.

"Ah phooey, you're no fun!" Raigeki huffed.

"She's right though. Let's keep going!" Satoshi, along with Raigeki and Kasumi, started dashing ahead towards the beach house.

Along the way, they encountered several more groups of rampaging Pokémon, from Wartortles to Octillerys, though with their combined might, the opposing forces were quickly wiped out. The Arcadian students didn't know what made them so angry, but it was apparent they were out for their blood. "What is up with this invasion? We didn't do anything to them!" Kasumi yelled, sprinting.

"Beats me! All we can do is check with Ibuki-sensei! She'll know what to do!" Satoshi advised.

"We're almost there! Let's hurry!" Raigeki let loose a wave of Thundershocks to shake off their pursuers while escaping.

_POOF!_

"Charge!" Out of the sand appeared 3 Wartortles, ambushing the fleeting teens and Pikachu. They were about to swing at them with their respective weapons when suddenly—

"Thunderbolt!"

_ZAP!_

A powerful Thunderbolt fried the three attackers, the force knocking them several feet away. The members of Team Tatsujin turned to the source of the attack. "You fools! Stop playing around and hurry up!" Kabushi yelled, running towards the beach house with Ayane and Raijin, the Raichu.

"Show off…" Satoshi mumbled, continuing his pace. Glancing behind, he noticed over 20 Octillerys shooting thick balls of ink at them, the attacks. The attacks were barely halfway from hitting their targets when a giant wall of sand was erected from the ground, taking the full brunt of the attacks. That could only mean one thing.

"Glad you can join the party." Leo's alter ego, Kaisuke, quipped, kneeling on the sand with his hands pressed down. Haruka had mimicked his actions, adding her strength into creating a sand wall.

"Thanks for the save. Now let's hurry up the beach house. That wall won't hold them forever." Satoshi suggested. Haruka and Kaisuke agreed, following them to the beach house.

It didn't take long for them to arrive, but when they did, they found their beach house being raided by an army of water Pokémon. Everyone with the ability to fight was defending the house, fending off the invasion.

Ibuki, along with her Dragonair, were knocking turtle and octopus type Pokémon left and right, relentless in their attacks. The blue haired martial artist spotted Team Tatsujin and was glad for their arrival. "About time you showed up! We could use some help!"

"It should be easy with us here!" Kasumi slapped her hands together, ready to deliver some pain to the invading Pokémon.

"Alright! Let's show these guys who we're dealing with!"

"YEAH!" Everyone shouted. Haruka, the only one unable to give a shout out, couldn't help but feel left out.

Satoshi noticed this and sweat-dropped. "Oh right…almost forgot about that. Sorry Haruka." Haruka merely waved it off, releasing a small sigh. Though months passed and Haruka had gotten used to being a mute, it was still very annoying.

Almost missing it, something caught Haruka's eye. A shadowed figure dashed into the house, hiding under the chaos and attacks flying about. She considered warning her friends, but they were too busy fighting all of the Pokémon. Never before did she curse her muteness so much.

The best option was to investigate it alone.

Making sure to avoid getting hit, Haruka darted across the battlefield until she was inside the house. To her surprise, some of the water Pokémon breached the interior. The hinata girls were cornered by a few Wartortles carrying swords. Narusegawa, Su, Mitsune and Shinobu huddled together, frightened for their lives. Naru and Mitsune were in front of the two younger girls, though scared, were willing to take a stand against the Wartortles. Haruka had to act quickly, or else the girls would get hurt. If only she had her voice back, she could chant a spell or at least distract the turtles. But for now, she had to resort to alchemy.

Speaking of which, she had an idea.

Clapping her hands together, the sound caught the Wartortle's attention. One of the Wartortle's pointed at Haruka. "It's one of the humans we were warned about! Attack before she has a chance to strike!" At the call, the five turtles charged at the young mage.

Haruka glanced left and right, trying to find the right item to transform. The enemy was running towards her in a single line, the benches making it impossible to swarm. At that moment, she spotted her target. _'I hope this works…' _Places her palms onto the wooden floor, electric sparks shot from under her hands, trailing towards the benches the Wartortles were trying to pass. The wooden seats started deforming and shot across the turtle's path, encircled them, and wrapped them into wooden bindings. Normally, it would've been easy to just burn them into a crisp, but it probably would've set the beach house on fire. That would do more harm than good.

"Thank you, Haruka-san. Motoko-chan is upstairs, fighting some more of those…turtle things." Narusegawa informed, pointing at the stairs. Without a moment to waste, Haruka took off, climbing the stairs.

The stairway led to the second floor, which was a hallway holding six doors, three on each side. It wasn't a big hallway, but it was sizable enough for two people to maneuver comfortably. Immediately, the alchemic mage noticed six unconscious Wartortles and an injured Motoko. Worried, she ran over and knelt next to the hinata samurai. Motoko was sitting up against the wall, holding onto her katana incase an enemy tired to ambush her. Besides are few cuts and bruises, her wounds weren't very seirous. "Haruka-san. Be careful of that…person. Whoever it was ran into Ibuki-san's room at the end of the hall." She weakly pointed to the open door down the hall. "He was very strong, whoever he was. Don't let your guard down, not even for a moment."

Haruka nodded and stood up, walking towards the said door. She didn't know what to expect, but jumped when she heard a slash, followed by a cry of pain. Alarmed, she sprang into action, preparing her fingers for flame action. Who she saw was something she least expected.

"So this is it…" The cloaked assailant said to himself, admiring the 3 crystal swords that were locked inside the treasure chest. "With this weapon, I will no doubt be able to crush anyone who gets in my way. Ack!" The perpetrator started coughing, using one of the swords as a crutch. "Damn these side effects…they shouldn't last too much longer though…hm?" The man veiled in a black ninja suit glanced behind him, his eyes widening in shock.

His red eyes.

'_Those eyes…it's…him…!'_ Haruka was startled as well. Both she and the intruder stood still in silence, surprised with their meeting.

"Dammit, this isn't good at all!" Clutching the swords to his chest, the man ran towards the window and jumped through it, shattering the glass in the process.

A second barely went by before Haruka sprinted into hot pursuit, jumping out of the same window. _'I've finally found you…Yuuki…_' With a flip, she landed gracefully on the sand, charging after the ninja. _'And there's no way I'm going to let you go…not again…!'_ Fueled by determination, Haruka ran at a frighteningly quick pace, not allowing anything to slow her down.

Yuuki took a small gander at Haruka, who was running at him like her life depended on it. _'This is seriously bad. I have to get away, but she's too damn fast. The blasted curse seal's side effects don't exactly help either.'_ He thought to himself, digging into his side pouch. He pulled out a bunch of caltrops and dropped them, hoping to slow her down.

Unfortunately for him, no such luck.

_BOOM!_

Using her alchemic gloves, Haruka set off an explosion at the caltrop covered sand, clearing the path of foot-threatening traps. Yuuki's jaw opened dropped at the sight. _'When the hell did she learn THAT!?'_ While he was impressed with the girl's newfound skill, he was also troubled. If she could do that just by snapping her fingers…

_BOOM! BOOM!_

"YEOW!" Yuuki dodged the explosions swiftly, dangerously close to getting blown away. He could tell that wasn't her plan, but also realized her tactics to capture him were drastic. Knowing her, the cursed ninja had to find a hiding place, and quick. Somewhere her explosions would bring more harm than good. But not a moment later, he found his target.

The city.

With their high speed chase, they were quickly at the stairway leading back into the city. Yuuki jumped over the stairs and darted between two tall buildings, rushing to get away. Haruka cursed mentally at Yuuki's underhanded tactic. In such a public setting, she couldn't use too much of her alchemic abilities without destroying public property or hurting someone. But nonetheless, wasn't going to let him get away. She ran inside the crack were Yuuki ran inside of, not realizing the maze she was about to enter.

The area was a network and twist and turns, making it very easy to get lost. Regrettably, Haruka lost track of Yuuki around the ninth corridor. This was where she would need the help of her Pokémon, quickly summoning her Ninetails, Gardevoir, and Misdreavus. Using Fiona's help, she was able to relay the details of their current situation. While everyone was troubled by the raid of the water Pokémon, Fiona and Kiza were shocked with the most recent news of Yuuki's appearance. They weren't going to take his constant retreating sitting down, resolved to settling things right now.

Fiona, being a Psychic-type, closed her eyes and extended her hands, attempting to detect their fleeting teammate with psywaves filtering through the matrix of buildings. It didn't take very long for the Gardevoir to find him. "He's towards the eastside. If we hurry, we can catch up!" Everyone nodded and followed Fiona, great haste in their steps. After three minutes of straight running, everyone was getting worried that they lost him for good when they stumbled upon a large opening, a path leading to the city on each side. On the middle of the floor laid Yuuki, who was struggling to stand up. Worried, the group went over to Yuuki to check on his condition.

But that's when they made their mistake.

_SPLASH!_

A powerful thrust of water struck Haruka and Kiza, slamming them roughly against the wall. It was crushingly powerful, knocking them unconscious within moments. "Damn! It's a trap!" Fiona turned to where the attack came from, but was struck by a powerful blow to the back of her neck, knocking her out immediately.

"Hahaha! That was an easy fight!" The giant lobster chortled.

"Hmph, they didn't even notice us thanks to my abilities. How foolish of them to rush to their defeat so quickly." A Slowking snorted.

Behind them towered a very large Blastoise, the evolved form of Wartortle. Draped in thick, spiked gold armor, the huge tortoise narrowed his eyes thoughtfully at the humans and Pokémon before him. "Good work Yamaga and Kurosaki. How nice of this little brat to bring us some souvenirs." Walking over to Yuuki, who was too weak to fight, the gold armored beast picked up the three swords. "These weapons are marvelous! It's a wonder how such lowly life forms as humans could've invented such weapons…"

"Sukaku-sama, what shall we do with these four? Perhaps grind them into dust, or leave their heads on pikes as a reminder to their remaining comrades?" Yamaga, the Slowking, asked.

Sukaku considered it for a moment, the options very appealing to him. "No. Saito said he wanted the boy alive. We'll take him with us."

"And the others, boss?" Kurosaki questioned, snapping his thick pincers with anticipation.

"…Kill them."

"Alright! It be killin' time!" The powerful Crawdaunt lifted his pincer over Haruka's head, preparing to smash it in.

_CHING!_

"Guh!" Kurosaki stopped in mid swing, a katana held to his throat.

"Lay a claw on her, and it'll be the last thing you ever do…" Yuuki threatened, his eyes wild with rage.

Yamaga was surprised. "Impossible! He shouldn't be able to move with that sickness of his!"

Sukaku wasn't nearly as impressed. He had a feeling why. "Are you trying to act tough, tiny brat? What makes you think we're going to just let them live and listen to you?"

Yuuki pulled off his mask to breathe, grinned wickedly. "Because you need me alive. If Saito were to find out I died, he wouldn't be happy. And if Saito isn't happy, your leader, Raokei, won't be happy. You know what that would mean…"

"Grr…!" Sukaku grew furious with Yuuki's slyness. He would rather not suffer the wrath of lord Raokei just because he killed some little girl. Nothing was worth facing Lord Raokei's anger. "Tch, fine, but you will have to come along quietly."

Yuuki slowly released his sword, his grin dropping. His eyes fell on Haruka, a combination of anger and confusion hitting him hard. 'Why…why can't I just…?'

_THWACK!_

With a quick slam from Kurosaki, Yuuki was down for the count. "That be fo' messin' wit me, puny runt!" The Crawdaunt spat.

Sukaku snapped his thick fingers, calling upon a squad of Squirtles. "Take them with us. We're leaving."

"As you wish, Sukaku-sama." As commanded, the Squirtle squad forced the two unconscious Pokémon into their Pokéballs and carried Yuuki and Haruka with them towards their headquarters.

Little did they know, a friendly ghost managed to evade detection…

Back at the beach house, everyone was struggling to hold back the horde when they began retreating. Safe to say, everyone was exhausted, but relieved. They regrouped inside the beach house, sitting on the stools and benches, which Kaisuke repaired after Haruka used it to trap the Wartortles. "Okay…now that those Pokémon are gone, does anyone have any idea what the HELL just happened?" Kabushi yelled, recalling his Pokémon inside the Pokéballs. He was bruised and injured, though no serious injuries were taken.

"Your guess is as good as mine. What did we do to make those Pokémon so upset?" Satoshi wondered as well, stilling on a stool. He noticed Raigeki having a nervous look in his eyes, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible. The young samurai's eyes narrowed at this. "Raigeki…?"

The young Pikachu visibly jumped, flashing an innocent grin. "Err…y-yes?"

There was a eerie pause between the Pokémon and his trainer. Satoshi ran his hands through his hair, trying to calm his nerves. "…Raigeki…please, oh please, tell me you didn't cause this mess!"

"I-I didn't, I swear! …Well, ok, maybe I did beat up a few dozen Wartortles, but seriously, they couldn't have been that mad!"

"Raigeki…!" Satoshi exasperated.

"That's half true." Anji, the other member of Team Rocket, interjected. The inhabitants faced the lean, dark haired fighter. "My Pokémon had run-ins with them as well. It would seem as though this might've been planned from the beginning."

Keitaro, who knew very little about what was going on, couldn't sit still about the situation. "What if they attack again? We've got to do something!"

"I doubt it." Climbing down the stairs, Ibuki was very troubled with her discovery. "Looks like they got what they came for."

"What do you mean? Didn't they come to kill us?" Kasumi asked.

Ibuki shook her head. "It wasn't to kill us. They came to get the treasure we picked up yesterday, and succeeded."

"That isn't our only problem," Kaisuke spoke with grimace. "Haruka-san has also disappeared. I've looked around for her, but to no avail."

"This is a disaster," Shigeru, leaning against a wall, didn't like this at all. In one night, chaos struck, wrecking what used to be a well established beach house. He felt terrible about having innocent victims being dragged into such an unnecessary mess. "Keitaro-san, I apologize for you being drawn into this mess."

"Well, we've had worse situations in the past. We're used to dilemmas and surprises, though today was very…troubling." Keitaro reassured. Just as he finished his statement, a mass of blue hair appeared in front of him, followed by a pair of panicked red eyes. He paled at the sight of the ghost for several tense moments before…"AIYEEE!" The young adult fell off his stool, backing up to a wall. Pointing to the Misdreavus, he started spurting incoherent sentences, too shocked to make a complete one.

"Megumi-chan!" The members of Team Tatsujin called out.

'_Attacking turtles…flying ghost…do we constantly attract freaky things!?'_ Narusegawa pondered, wondering where their luck would take them next.

"Big problems! Very big problems! We need to help them, fast!" Megumi babbled quickly.

"Whoa, whoa, slow down! Please, calmly tell us what happened." Kasumi ushered.

"Okay…" Megumi nodded. She retold the previous events, everything from Haruka's chase to Sukaku taking Haruka and Yuuki captive. "…And then I flew here as fast as I could! We have to help them!"

"No doubt about that! If we hurry, we can save them!" After hearing the news, Satoshi was most certainly going to go save them. Both Yuuki and Haruka were captured. If something wasn't done, they could end up dead.

Kasumi shot up from her bench, clenching her fist angrily. "I agree! We can't just sit here and let them have their way!"

"It's the only option. We must make them pay." Kaisuke said coolly, flexing his hands.

Ibuki took a moment to determine what should be done. It was nightfall, a dangerous time to try and hunt for their comrades. However, unlike the time at the cavern, Yuuki and Haruka were captured. They were in need of rescuing ASAP. But they would need help for the mission. They couldn't strain their forces too much incase the water Pokémon attacked again, so she could afford to at least let one team keep Team Tatsujin company. "Satoshi-san, take Team Rocket with you."

"What's that!?" Kabushi yelled, furious at the idea.

Not in the mood for teen rivalries, Ibuki shot the red haired samurai a dark look. "Are you questioning me, Kabushi-san?"

"Urk…" Kabushi looked taken back. Obviously, his protests were only going to cause him more trouble. "Ugh, no…" He sighed.

"I'll come along too." Motoko stepped down the stairs, brushing off her clothes.

"Are you sure about that? You look like you've taken quite a beating…" Keitaro questioned worriedly.

"Your worries are groundless, Urashima-san," Motoko tightened her grip on her katana, a dangerous look on her face. "Because no one messes with me and gets away unscathed. Rest assured that vengeance will be mine."

"That…is so cool…!" Anji praised, flames of passion burning in his brown eyes.

Ryuga rolled his eyes, mumbling to himself. "I still say cuteness is better…"

"One of these days…" Kabushi promised, itching to attack his teammates. Ayane said nothing, but silently wondered how it was she was stuck with such a strange group of friends.

"That's fine. We could probably use the extra firepower." Satoshi nodded at Motoko.

"Don't worry about finding those guys. I remember where the cave was where I fought some of their guys. That's probably their HQ." Raigeki mentioned.

"That'll work. Thanks Raigeki." Resolved, Satoshi was prepared to face whatever challenges he was going to face. "With all of us going, those guys won't stand a chance! Let's do it!" At the battle cry, Team Tatsujin, Team Rocket, and the star warrior of the hinata set forth towards Sukaku's headquarters.

The time to fight back has begun.

* * *

I sincerely apologize for the extreme tardiness. Hopefully, I won't practice this too often. Please drop a review, as I will continue to work hard on this fic. It's the least I can do for something as great as this, and to you guys for taking the time to read it. Thank you. 

Ah, and before I forget again, I would like to thank Mikazuchi and sykilik101 for their assistance thus far. I feel ashamed for not mentioning their efforts sooner.


	26. Love Tajiri: Striking Back

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon…why am I still writing this?

* * *

With the help of Raigeki, Team Tatsujin and Rocket managed to arrive at Sukaku's headquarters within 20 minutes. Thanks to the cover of the trees and bushes, everyone was able to observe the entrance without being detected. It was good timing since Sukaku obviously expected their arrival due to high security.

Kaisuke, knelt over behind a small bush, narrowed his focus at the Wartortles blocking the cave. "Whoever's in charge knew we would be coming. We won't be able to sneak in very easily. Our strategic options are limited."

"So what do we do? It'll be harder to fight them if we're detected to early." Kasumi frowned at the idea. Time wasn't on their side, so they couldn't waste time on small fries.

"Or will it…?" Kabushi grinned to himself, a plot in mind, "if we can rush and overwhelm quickly, that would stir a panic and cause them to be scattered and confused. That will be our window of opportunity."

"I like that idea! Let's do it!" Satoshi gripped the handle of his sword, prepared to rush.

"About time your brain started working. On the count to three, let's rush them." With a growl, Satoshi listened to Kabushi and prepared to spring into action. Kabushi was also ready to strike. "1…2…3!"

"LET'S GO!" With a cry, Satoshi shot from the bushes and ran to attack the several Wartortles. With Kasumi and Raigeki's help, most of the Wartortles were quickly devastated. Unfortunately, reinforcements were swift to arrive and surround them.

It was clear that Kabushi's plan didn't work very well. The water Pokémon were too well organized to be thrown into chaos that easily. Satoshi grimaced. "Uh…Kabushi? I don't think that plan is working. Do you have a backup plan?" When he turned to see Kabushi, he was met with a surprise.

He was gone, as was everyone except Kasumi and Raigeki.

Kasumi felt very aggravated for two reasons. One, Kabushi had most likely tricked them into running head first against enemy front lines. Secondly, she hated herself for actually falling for it. "Well…this is quite a predicament…"

"GET THEM!" One of the Wartortles shouted, causing the wave of enemies to rush at the teens and Pokémon.

Elsewhere, Team Rocket and the remaining members of Team Tatsujin had successfully entered Sukaku's cave. Motoko took a gander at Satoshi and Kasumi, getting overwhelmed by the large Pokémon wave. She honestly felt bad for them. "Did we really have to do that to them?"

"It was definitely necessary, as well as satisfying. 'Operation: get Satoshi killed first' was a partial success, but enough to get us in undetected.

"Why a partial success?"

"Because that fool isn't dead yet."

Motoko turned to Kaisuke, a worried look on her face. "Is everyone from this Arcadia school_ this_ violent?"

The Ivalian Alchemist shrugged. "Ever since I met Satoshi, I've run into an innumerable amount of oddities. I don't know what makes sense in Arcadia anymore."

"Interesting…" And here she thought the Hinata Inn was filled with weirdoes. Apparently, they don't hold a candle to Arcadia.

After further walking, the group arrived at a 3-way path. In order to find Yuuki and Haruka quickly, they would have to cover all the paths at once while keeping a solid size group incase of unexpected danger. Kabushi quickly decided on a team setup. "Let's split up here. Ayane, Anji and I will take the right side. Ryuga, take the other two through the left path."

"But what about the middle?" Ryuga asked.

"Without a doubt, the middle path will most likely be tougher than the other two paths. We'll obviously leave that to the fool and that girl foolish enough to follow him."

"Actually, I have a request." Kaisuke spoke up, capturing everyone's attention, "I would like to go through the left path with just Ayane."

This caught Ayane's attention. "What's this about, Leo-san?"

Kaisuke thought to reveal his true identity, but decided to wait until later. "Nothing much. All I want to do is talk to you."

Kabushi was visibly annoyed. "I don't know what you got up your sleeve, but whatever you want to talk about you can—"

"It's alright, Kabu-kun. I'll take him up on his offer." Ayane had a strange feeling about Kaisuke. It wasn't fear or anxiety, but curiosity. Something about the alchemist seemed…familiar.

Kabushi opened his mouth to object, but noticed the scrutinizing looks he was getting from Ryuga and Anji. Their smiles were a little _too_ wicked. He decided to let Ayane go ahead with the plan, for fear of getting teased relentlessly. "…Fine. You two can take the path alone. Leo, you better not try anything or I'll slice you to pieces."

Kaisuke raised his brow suspiciously. "Overprotective are we? If you think I plan to deflower her or something to that extent, you may put your fears to rest. Please proceed with haste, time is against us." And with that, Kaisuke left with Ayane down the left corridor.

Kabushi had a lost look on his face. "…Deflower her? What the hell does he mean by that?" he glanced at his troupe to notice something odd. Motoko's face turned bright red while Ryuga and Anji were having a laughing fit. This annoyed Kabushi greatly. "What the hell is so funny? What does flowers have anything to do with Ayane?" Ryuga and Anji started laughing harder.

"Ka…Kabu-kun…! What he meant was…PFFT! HAHAHAHA! OH MY GOD! THAT'S JUST TOO MUCH!" Ryuga had to hold onto the wall to keep himself standing.

"That guy…is quite a character. Nailed it right on the head! Bwahahaha!" Even Anji, who was normally stoic, was laughing boisterously.

"Ugh, useless bunch of fools! You, Motoko! What was the stupid joke that I missed?" Kabushi hated when he was the only one who didn't get it.

"W-well…what Leo-san meant was…"

1 minute later…

"LET ME GO! I'LL KILL HIM DEAD!" Ryuga and Anji had to put all of their strength into holding the furious samurai back. His dark red face was evident of his newfound knowledge.

About 5 minutes later, Satoshi and Kasumi arrived at the 3-way path, annoyed and slightly fatigued. "That Kabushi…! I can't believe he tricked us!" Satoshi was going to get that samurai the moment he had the chance.

"But at least we made it." Kasumi glanced over the 3 corridors. "It looks like finding Yuuki and Haruka won't be easy."

"Maybe they left a clue or something so we know which way to go." Satoshi started looking around for evidence of which way everyone went.

"Or maybe…we could just look at this note." Raigeki pointed at the wall next to the middle entrance, where a piece of paper was nailed to the wall with a knife.

Satoshi sweat-dropped. "Okay…that saves some guess work. Let's see what it says." Taking the note, Satoshi began reading the contents.

_Satoshi,_

_We have taken the other two paths in order to scour this cavern quickly. Be a good boy and take the middle route._

_Leo_

_P.S. – I sincerely apologize to Kasumi for leaving her. We didn't expect that she too would take the lunge._

"HEY! What about me!?" Satoshi bellowed.

_P.P.S – Don't be a crybaby, Satoshi. We all make mistakes._

"Mistakes!? I was tricked!"

_P.P.P.S – Instead of wasting your time reading this letter and blaming other people for your idiocy, you should be taking that middle path._

"Why that little…!" Satoshi was furious. "Fine! We'll take the stupid middle path! Come on Kasumi, let's go!"

"Uh…sure!" Running along with Satoshi and Raigeki, Kasumi couldn't help but praise Kaisuke for his intelligence, but hate him for his rudeness.

Just as the three left, Kabushi was seen leaving the right corridor, being followed by Ryuga, Anji and Motoko. "That damn Leo…! That guy must be up to something…!"

"Kabu-kun, where are you going? We're supposed to go this way!" Ryuga called out.

"I'm just going to make sure they don't get into too much trouble. You three go on ahead. Raijin, let's go!" Summoning his Raichu, Kabushi ran off into the direction that Ayane and Kaisuke went into.

Motoko couldn't help but feel confused about the young samurai. "…You would think he could be honest and just say he was worried about Ayane-san."

Anji shook his head. "He's not the type to let people into his bubble. He and Ayane-chan are skilled enough to handle themselves anyway, so let's not worry too much about them."

Ryuga nodded. "Right. Besides, we have people to save." Thus the trio went off into their designated area in search of Yuuki and Haruka.

With Kaisuke, he and Ayane had dispatched many of the enemies with ease. With Ayane's ninja arts and Kaisuke's alchemic abilities, they were a force to be reckoned with. Thanks to Kaisuke's alchemy skills and Ayane's trap know-how, all traps were effectively sealed. But they couldn't rest just yet, and not just because they were in enemy territory.

Kaisuke had waited patiently for the right moment to talk to Ayane. For the moment, there were no enemies nearby, meaning no interruptions. Unfortunately, he wouldn't be the one speaking to Ayane. Leo wanted to speak to her himself, which Kaisuke didn't mind. Given the matter at hand, the alter ego of Leo encouraged the idea. He stopped suddenly, getting Ayane's attention. "I think now would be the best time to start."

Ayane folded her arms, being more than patient with the teen. "It's about time. So, what was so important that you had to take me away from my team?"

"In due time. Unfortunately, I won't be the one speaking. One moment." Kaisuke closed his eyes for a few seconds. Without warning, Kaisuke started shrinking in size. Without a doubt this stunned Ayane. Leo opened his eyes, just awakening from his slumber. He glanced left and right to survey his surroundings. "…One would think he could've picked a better place for this conversation…"

"Uh…what just happened?"

"To put it simply, there are two of me. The one you spoke to earlier is Kaisuke, my alter ego."

"Kaisuke…" Ayane did find it odd how the boy seemed different every time she met him. Farfetched it was, but she couldn't deny what she just witnessed. "I see, but even if he's your alter ego, why does your height and stature change?"

"That will be explained in a moment. But first, I need to ask you one simple question. What is your last name?"

"Last name? That's an odd question. It's…"

After hearing the name, Leo grinned widely. Now all the pieces were together. "Heh…after all these years, being a genius pays off."

"Uh…care to fill me in?"

"Gladly. You see…"

Several yards away, a certain stalker was crouched behind a thick rock formation, attempting to eavesdrop on the two. "Dammit…I can't hear a thing…" Kabushi growled under his breath." From his perspective, Leo was excited about something and going into some sort of speech. Ayane seemed very interested, listening to every word.

"Uh…Kabu-kun…is there any particular reason you couldn't just, I don't know, _ask_ her about the conversation later?" Raijin secretly wondered if Kabushi was a born stalker.

"That's a stupid idea. The last thing I want to do is look suspicious. I wonder if it's safe to get closer…"

Raijin sweat-dropped. "You mean this isn't at all suspicious? The same girl you deny having any intimate feelings about just happens to be the one you're stalking…I think this translate into one simple message: You got issues."

Kabushi snapped his head at Raijin, glaring at the Raichu. "You shut up. This has nothing to do with feelings or anything like that. That Leo is up to something strange, and I'm not going to sit around and let this go over my head. I must find out what's going on."

Raijin pointed accusingly at Kabushi. "I already know what's going on. You're jealous because Leo's getting some alone time with Ayane-chan and you're not."

"I am most certainly not jealous."

"Good. So it wouldn't bother you whatsoever if you saw the two hugging."

"What? They hugging? Why that has got to be the most preposterous—!!" Kabushi gasped suddenly when, as Raijin pointed, he spotted Ayane kneeling down and hugging Leo. Leo looked a bit embarrassed by this.

Even Raijin was surprised. "Whoa…! That's the first time I've ever seen her do that. I'll bet those two had a real special moment. I mean, look at that smile she has! She must be really…uh…are you alright…?" He couldn't help but feel the heat of anger coming from Kabushi. Hell, he could practically see the flames burning off him.

"Damn that Leo…! Just what the hell does he think he's doing with her…!?"

"What I am doing is my business." Leo answered.

The two sweat-dropped fiercely, given that the voices came from behind. It was evident what had transpired the moment the Leo and Ayane disappeared in a puff of smoke. A spooked Kabushi and Raijin turned around to see Leo's smug face and Ayane's annoyed one staring them down. "…Glad to see you two are okay?"

Ayane placed her hands onto her hands, irritated with Kabushi's suspicious behavior. "Kabu-kun, I am shocked. You're supposed to be with Ryu-kun and the others."

"Uh…" Kabushi's dumbfounded look rivaled Satoshi's. There was no getting out of this one. "So…Ayane…er…did you find—"

"Don't change the subject! You were spying on us! And just what reason do you have for trying to eavesdrop on me and Leo-kun?"

Kabushi's eyebrow twitched at the honorific. _'Since when the hell did she start calling him Leo-kun?' _Though he wasn't in any position to start demanding answers, he was definitely going to get to the bottom of that one. He had no choice but to make a sacrifice. He turned his face so he wouldn't look at her in the eye. "I…just wanted to make sure you two were alright. It didn't feel right with our forces divided so unevenly."

Ayane sighed. She couldn't stay mad at him, especially after saying something like that. "Well, we were finished anyway, so I guess it's fine. Come on, let's go find those two brats before they get killed." Ayane continued on, leaving the two behind.

Leo shrugged and began following Ayane. Of course, he made sure to leave a comment for Kabushi to remember him by. "In case you were wondering, they felt nice and soft."

That did the trick.

"No Kabu-kun! Don't do it!" Raijin pleaded, attempting to pull the raging samurai back.

"Damn him! I'll cut his freakin' head off, I swear!" Kabushi was burning with fury, wildly swinging his sword at the cool and calm alchemist.

After many minutes of traveling, some of which were spent trying to prevent Kabushi from committing first-degree murder, the group arrived at a large room filled with water. Scattered across the room were large pieces of rock that could be used as platforms to get across the water. In the distance, the gang saw what appeared to be a keyhole. Other than that, it was a dead end.

Ayane glanced left and right. She wasn't getting very good vibes from this place. "What is this place…?"

"Your grave…"

"The exit!" Kabushi glanced back to see a massive wall covering where the exit was, sealing everyone inside. Looking back, he suddenly saw something in the middle of the platforms that wasn't there before.

Yamaga the Slowking.

"Glad you can finally make it. It's not polite to be late to your own funerals." The slowking taunted.

"The only thing you did was piss me off!" Kabushi yelled.

"You're Yamaga, aren't you?" Leo questioned, glaring at the Slowking.

"Correct. You might've noticed the keyhole behind me. If you want to leave here, you'll have to defeat me and take this." Yamaga pointed to the key that was hanging around his neck. "Of course, this is assuming that you have what it takes to defeat the ultimate psychic of the Water Fangs serving under Lord Raokei."

"A psychic you say? In which case, you should be able to see your own demise quite clearly." Leo erected a steel sword from the platform with the use of alchemy.

"Hmhmhm, what a child. I'll wipe that smug look off your face. Ah, before we start, there is something you want to be aware of. If you'll direct your attention to the water, you might see something swimming under." Just as Yamaga said, silhouettes of Pokémon could be see swimming underneath. "I won't be the only danger you'll face. There are dangers lurking underwater that will most likely kill you before I do."

Ayane, Leo and Kabushi started stepping away from the edge. This battle was going to be very, very tricky. Any mistakes could easily lead to their deaths.

"Well, without further ado, let us begin…"

Elsewhere, Ryuga, Anji and Motoko were searching any and every opening and path they ran across. Unfortunately, they found no sign of Yuuki or Haruka. Unlike Leo's group, everyone was quiet. Motoko couldn't help but wonder what was going through everyone's minds. Both Anji and Ryuga, for the first time she realized, had very serious looks on their faces.

Ryuga had no problem with rescuing Haruka, even if she was from a rivaling team. Yuuki, however, was a priority. He, better than anyone, knew the dangers befalling the Odamaki ninja. Yuuki had escaped right before the limiter could be completely placed. In order for the Curse Seal be kept under controllable conditions, it had to be cross-fused with the user's natural seal. Once that was done, a special seal has to be placed to keep the two firmly fused. Currently, the Curse Seal within Yuuki is loosening, leaking out. If the fusion isn't completed in time, the Curse Seal will completely take over and devour Yuuki. Once that happens…no, he wasn't going to let that happen. He was going to prevent another disaster from happening. The mage believed in Saito's intentions and was going to make sure he fulfilled those expectations.

Anji's worries were elsewhere, mainly on the Mugendai no Tsurugi. Whispers of its power have floated through time. It was said that the swords hold the key to immense power. Should it be unlocked, the wielder could easily crush a city with a small fraction of its power. If that person even knew how to use it, the world would be in danger. Someone like Sukaku could not have those swords. Sukaku, like the other fangs of the Raokei, despised humans. Should Sukaku unlock the Mugendai and use it for himself, he could easily exterminate humankind. No matter the cost, Anji MUST bring those swords back to Saito, or at least get them away from Sukaku. He owed it to Saito to do what he could.

_'Such tension…they must be really worried…' _Motoko was almost choking from the tense air Ryuga and Anji were emanating. A small conversation wouldn't hurt to calm the atmosphere. "So, Ryuga-san, Anji-san, tell me more about Arcadia. Sounds like an amazing school."

Anji glanced back at Motoko while walking. "Compared to most other schools, it is. Arcadia is one of 5 schools that concentrate on powerful arts. It's been around for a ton of years and got a lot of attention. Because of its reputation, we tend to attract some of the strongest fighters to ever exist."

"The level of education is also very high. Of course, it's all tough work to pack in all of this knowledge under the time you spend in school. Only the dedicated and strong usually graduate. That's where we come in." Ryuga flashed a smirk.

"I suppose you two are very skilled then." Motoko felt a nearby presence. She nonchalantly glanced back, but saw nothing. According to Ryuga and Anji's expressions, she wasn't the only one who noticed. They were being followed. The two boys nodded at her, waiting for the chance to attack. After talking a few more steps, she acted. "NOW!" Brandishing her katana, the Ronin leaped at the attack, as did everyone else. The stalker was quickly surrounded and pinned against the wall. Motoko and the others were about to give the assailant hell when they noticed who it was.

"Geez guys, it's just me!" Imite pleaded, raising her hands defensively.

"What are you guys waiting for? Attack her!" Ryuga shouted, charging up for a magic attack.

"Shut up, Ryu-kun. We're not going to attack her." Anji huffed in annoyance, scratching his head. "Imite-san, what the hell are you doing here? We were seriously going to rip you a new one."

"I couldn't help it! You guys were going to a super secret area and I didn't want to be left out."

"Imite-san…" Motoko spoke up, "I understand how you feel, but Ibuki-sensei might need your help. Abandoning your post is very irresponsible."

"I know, but still…" Imite pouted.

"Motoko-chan is right, Imite-san. This isn't a playground. If the Water Pokémon were to attack again, everyone would need your help. Do you think it's fair to leave your teammates just for your own selfish gain?" Anji said seriously. Motoko raised her eyebrow at Anji, wondering when she gave him permission to call her –chan.

"Aww…"

Ryuga released a loud, tired sigh. "Now, now you two. Let's not be too hard on Enemy-san. We've all wanted that feeling of usefulness. Besides, she's a skilled ninja. I'm sure her skills will be a valuable addition to our forces." Gently pushing his allies aside, he extended an inviting hand to Imite. "Now, shall we proceed to saving our fellow classmates?"

"Ryu-kun…I…!" The teal haired ninja was rendered breathless by Ryuga's kindness, something she least expected. She saw Ryuga in a new light. With a smile, she grasped the mages hand. "Glad to that you can be a nice guy after all. Thanks, Ryu-kun."

"No, Enemy-san…" The mage's grip on Imite's hand tightened, his smile turning wicked, "Thank…YOU!" Without warning, Ryuga rapidly spun the young ninja several times before tossing her far ahead. Not missing a beat, he aimed his staff at the flying copycat. "WIND BLAST!"

WHOOSH!"

"AIYEEEE!" Imite was further propelled deep into the cavern before landing flat on her face. "Ow…my face…" While trying to get up, her hand seemed to have pressed down on a hidden switch. Looking up, her eyes widened as multiple spears were suddenly released, shooting at the girl. "EEEK!" She barely avoided getting impaled by sprinting into a run. Her foot tripped onto a wire trap, which set off a wall trap, where the wall would attempt to crush her. Luckily, she stepped back to avoid the crushing walls. Unfortunately, her foot landed onto another floor button. This time, the walls opened, revealing holes in the walls. Hundreds of poisons darts suddenly shot out at Imite, who barely escaped with her life by rolling on the ground. It didn't help that after avoiding that trap, she tripped a small wire that activated a pitfall trap. The girl almost met her fate to the spiked deathtrap, but managed to cling onto the wall with her kunai. "SOMEBODY HELP MEEEE!"

"But your being _so useful_, Enemy-san! We wouldn't want to get in your way, now do we?" Ryuga was enjoying this almost too much.

Motoko tossed Ryuga a shocked look. "Are you crazy!? You almost got her killed!"

"I know! Ain't I brilliant?"

"You're insane!"

Anji sweat-dropped fiercely. "…You scare me sometimes." He couldn't help but worry about Imite, who was moments from falling to her demise. "Uh…shouldn't we help her soon?"

Ryuga gave Anji a questioning look. "…Why?"

"Because she can die!"

"…And that bothers me, how?"

"Ryuga!"

"Alright, alright. Can't get away with anything nowadays. Sheesh!" Ryuga took several steps forward when…

Click…!

"Uh oh…" Ryuga looked down to see his foot pressing down on a switch. There was a moment of silence, everyone wondering what was going to happen. A sound from behind caught their attention. When they turned to see what it was, they paled in horror.

Water.

Lots and lots of water.

"RUN FOR IT!" The trio began sprinted ahead, trying to out run the rushing wave.

Several feet ahead, Imite finally managed to get out of the pit, panting for air. "That Ryuga…! Next time I see him, I'm going to…huh?" She looked up to see the said mage running at her, fear in his eyes. "What on earth is—"

"Beauty before age!" Ryuga jumped on Imite's head and bounced off, jumping across the pit. The girl was about to fall back into the pit when Anji caught her hand and jumped over the pit, as did Motoko. The wall ahead was still closed, trapping them. "Sorry about this!" With a toss, Anji sent the girl airborne. Raising his fist, it started glowing with a yellow hue. "HIYA!" With a slam, the walls were completely destroyed. He managed to catch Imite and threw her over his shoulder before dashing off.

"Anji-kun, drop the dead weight already! It's going to slow you down!" Ryuga warned.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING DEAD WEIGHT!? AND I AM NOT AN 'IT'!" Imite bellowed, angered by her near fatal experience.

"This isn't the time for arguing! The wave is catching up!" Motoko chastised, glaring at the two.

Looking ahead, Anji grimaced at the sight. A steel gate was beginning to close many meters ahead. They were as good as dead if they didn't get past that door. He needed an idea, and quick. "Imite, I need your help! Here!" Quickly, the fighter tossed Imite a Pokéball, who was still hanging over his shoulder. "Ryu-kun, use Wind Blast, hurry!"

"Alright, here we go! WIND BLAST!" Ryuga shot a concentrated ball of wind towards Anji. The attacked lifted Anji and gave him a great boost in speed.

"Okay, Imite-san, now it's your turn. Use my Hariyama to hold open that gate! RAAH!" With a dynamic swing, Anji hurled the ninja girl very far away, bringing her close to the gate.

"Hariyama, hold open that gate for us!" With a toss, Imite summoned Anji's Hariyama, Hayate.

"Hayate holds gate while others reach safety." Lifting his huge hands, Hayate slowed the gate's progress. Unfortunately, the gate was heavier than expected and was still closing. "Hayate unable to hold up for long. Hayate needs more power."

"Power…where can I…ah yeah!" Taking out her Pokéball, Imite summoned her Ditto. "Duplica, copy Hayate and hold open that door."

"You got it! Transform!" The Ditto turned into an exact replica of Hayate, and with her help, successfully held the gate open.

The water was rushing fast, dangerously close to engulfing the remaining three people. Luckily, everyone managed to get past the gate and close it before the water got them. They collapsed on the ground, tired from the running. "That was way too close…!" Motoko groaned.

"I'll have to agree. I mean…all that sea water would've damaged my hair terribly!" Ryuga patted his hair, making sure it wasn't ruined.

Imite shot the mage a dark glare. "Sleep with one eye open, Ryuga! Next time I'll cut off your hair!"

Ryuga gasped with fright at the threat. "You wouldn't dare! I'll bury you before that happens."

"You two! That's eno—"

"Now, now, Motoko-chan, yelling and screaming won't solve this problem. At times like these, we have to be diplomatic. Hey, you two." Anji called out.

"WHAT!?" Ryuga and Imite yelled. They stopped once they noticed Anji flashing several photos at them. They gasped sharply at the pictures. "Those pictures…!"

"Exactly. Every embarrassing moment from the CPR moment to that little 'diversion' by the rocks has been properly documented thanks to Meizu-kun's efforts. Now, you may continue fighting and trying to kill each other. But I wonder…what would happen if these photos, for lack of a better example, were posted for everyone to see?" Their stunned silence was all the answer Anji needed. "Now that I have your attention, perhaps a diplomatic truce is in order."

"Diplomatic truce my ass! That's blackmail!" Ryuga yelled.

"That's not fair!" Imite frowned.

Watching these events, Motoko grew more and more afraid of the group she was stuck with. _'What have I gotten myself into…?'_ Glancing ahead, she noticed an opening. Whatever it was, it led to a big area. "Let's check out this area. Maybe Yuuki and Haruka are there."

Anji sat up, dusting off his shorts. "I agree. Prisoners don't normally last very long. We best hurry." Ryuga and Imite nodded, but still felt the sting from Anji's blackmail.

The area they entered was vastly different from the previous ones. Everything was made of solid ice. It was much bigger than the ordinary rooms, and the large stalagmites made it easy for them to be ambushed. Everyone had to keep their eyes on all directions while progressing. The last thing they wanted was to fall for another trap. The cold air bit at their skin. "Those two sure as hell better be here. It's freaking cold." Ryuga rubbed his arms in an attempt to warm himself up. He was surprised to see Anji not showing any signs of being cold, even though his only clothes were a sleeveless black shirt and a pair of shorts. "Anji-kun, how can you possibly like this weather?"

"Did you already forget? I'm from Aoi City, where we get these temperatures all the time."

"Ah yeah. I'm used to the warmer regions. But seriously, I don't know what you see in this frozen tundra."

"Warmer regions? Does that mean you're from Aka City? I hear summers are the worst." Imite wondered.

"If you must know, I hail from the most beautiful city on Gaetia, Midori City."

"Midori City? Wouldn't know much about it. I'm not from Gaetia."

Anji glanced at Imite, surprised. "Really? Where are you from then?"

"Kanto."

This got Ryuga's curiosity as well. "Kanto? That's incredibly far from Gaetia. What reason would you have for coming all that way?"

"Parents. They got a good deal and decided to move from Kanto. Simple as that."

"Hm, well that's convenient. Good for you." Anji said.

"Thanks!"

_'Convenience, huh?' _Ryuga couldn't help but question that. While he still despised Imite, he couldn't shake off the feeling of doubt. But for now, he decided to dismiss it. "In any case, just how big is this room? We've been walking for a good couple of minutes, and we haven't even touched the other half yet."

Motoko, who had been silent for a long time, almost felt as though she sensed a presence. What was it about this room that was making her nervous? What was also eerie was the low number of enemies faced. All together, they fought maybe a dozen Wartortles or less. It was as though this path was more based on traps than guards. If that was the case…this room could be the worst trap they've faced yet. Focusing ahead, the young samurai could see something on the other side of the icy room. Looking closely, it looked like a prison cell… "Over there! I see a prison!"

"A prison?" Looking in the same direction, Anji saw what Motoko was referring to. It was built into the other side, dark and dank. Inside, two people could be seen lying on the floor. "Ryuga, it's them!"

"Let's do it! Hurry!" Without a second to spare, Anji and Ryuga sprinted ahead to the cell, closely followed by Motoko and Imite. Right before reaching the iced prison, Ryuga lifted his staff to help clear the way. "FIRE BURST!" A huge fireball was launched at the bars, incinerating them. Inside, Ryuga and Anji made their priority to check on Yuuki first while Motoko and Imite tended to Haruka.

Waking up, Yuuki glared at Anji and Ryuga. "You two again. Why can't you—"

_WHAM!_

"Ack!" Yuuki doubled over in pain, getting a punch in the stomach from Anji.

"That's for putting us through all the crap to look for you! Now you will stay still, shut up and let us work on you!" Anji chastised fiercely.

Yuuki struggled to get up, weakened from the punch. "Feh…like I'm going to listen to—"

_SMACK!_

This time, Ryuga slammed him in the back of the neck with his staff, knocking him unconscious. "That's for making me have to put up with Enemy-san AND making me ruin my hair! Do you know how expensive good shampoo is!?"

"Ryu-kun, you just totally killed the moment…" Anji sweat-dropped.

The girls witnessed this with shocked expressions, especially Haruka. Motoko gripped her sword defensively while Imite was almost ready to stop them. "What the hell are you two doing!? We're supposed to be rescuing them, not killing them!"

Ryuga tossed the girls a serious glance, so dark that it seemed way too uncharacteristic for the mage. "This is far more important than you can imagine. If we don't do this, he WILL die. Now tend to Haruka-san. We got this one." His glance softened when he met Haruka's worried eyes. "Even you noticed something is wrong with him. Don't worry, me and Anji-kun will make sure that he's alright." He nodded at Haruka, giving her reassurance.

"_Thank goodness…"_ Haruka mouthed with a sigh, smiling at the idea that the boy was going to be fine.

"So cute…!" Ryuga felt compelled to hug the muted woman. That was, until he saw the 'Don't you dare' look from Anji. Ryuga immediately went to work. He began by laying Yuuki on his back and removing his top article of clothing. He looked back to see the questionable looks on the girl's faces. "We're not doing anything gay to him, so don't even think about it." Turning his attention back to Yuuki, he grimaced at the sight. His entire body almost turned completely pitch black. Ryuga closed his eyes and made a praying motion with one hand while performing several hand symbols with the other. As he did this, his body was beginning to be outlined with a bright blue light

Anji backed away as a blue symbol appeared on the ground and expanded enough so it enveloped Ryuga and Yuuki. Gently, Ryuga placed his hand on Yuuki's chest. As he did, the blackness that was enveloping Yuuki began to swirl and get sucked into Ryuga's palm. After it was absorbed, Ryuga lifted his hand, carrying what looked like a black sphere the size of a marble. Carefully, Ryuga placed his other hand on Yuuki's chest, and after a moment, pulled out a red sphere of similar shape. He began chanting several verses that was alien to native languages. At this time, Anji quickly rushed behind Ryuga and placed a hand on his back, channeling his energy.

"What…what is this sorcery?" Motoko questioned, left in awe at the mysticism before her.

"Right now, Ryuga is trying to fuse that red sphere with the black one. I am helping him control that energy. Now please, this part is crucial and very delicate. Remain silent." Anji warned, sending his chi into Ryuga. Suddenly, the two spheres began spinning around and getting closer. This continued until the red orb and black orb touched. The room was enveloped in a blinding light, forcing the girls to shield their eyes. The light soon faded, as did the symbol on the ground and around Ryuga.

"Done. He should be fine now." With a sigh, Ryuga stood up, but ended up stumbling.

"Don't push it. Here." Reaching into his pockets, Anji pulled out a small pill and gave it to Ryuga. Ryuga gladly swallowed it.

"Wait…was that a soldier pill?" Imite asked.

"Soldier pill?" Motoko echoed.

"Yeah, it was. It recovers fatigue and helps keep the energy up. It normally last a few days unless the user manages to deplete that extra energy. In either case, let's get out of here." Anji turned to leave, but his eyes caught something that alarmed him greatly. "Let's leave, now! Hurry!" Unsure but worried, everyone listened to Anji's advice. They noticed it as soon as they began darting for the exit.

The doorway was being sealed up with ice.

Ryuga and Imite managed to jump through the closing exit, but Motoko and Anji were not so fortunate since they were carrying Haruka and Yuuki. "ANJI-KUN! MOTOKO-SAN!" Ryuga and Imite began banging on the ice door.

"We're okay over here. I'll need some time, but I can probably break the door down. Keep your eyes open!" Anji shouted from the other side.

"We'll get you out! Don't worry!" Both Ryuga and Imite prepared fire attacks to melt the door.

"I wouldn't be so hasty if I were you!"

"…Damn." Both Ryuga and Imite cursed, peeking at the intruder behind them.

"Bwahahaha! I got ya nice n' cornered! Just da way me likes it!" Kurosaki clamped his pincers with excitement. "Alright boys! It's a time fo' fightin'!" Behind the stalagmites, dozens of Wartortles with armor and weapons appeared, ready to battle.

"This isn't good…even with out Pokémon they got us outnumbered 10 to 1!" Imite brandished her ninja sword, sweating nervously.

Ryuga wasn't so daunted. "Then it's a fair fight." Twirling his staff expertly, Ryuga was prepared for battle.

"Do you have a plan?"

"…Nope."

"Ack!" Imite almost fell over, astonished, "Then why the hell are you so calm!?"

"It's simple." Ryuga grinned wickedly, "Because now I got a battle worthy of my powers. If you want to run, be my guest."

_'Is he trying to psyche that Crawduant out, or is he actually serious…?'_ Whatever it was, Imite had no idea what was going through the mages head. Nonetheless, she was going to be in for a rough fight. "Heh…you're one crazy mage." A smirk soon graced her features, gaining more and more confidence. "…I guess I'm crazy for wanting to fight this one with you."

"A temporary truce until we get out of this. Don't get in my way."

"That's my line."

"Enough talkin' for yas'! It's killin' time!" Kurosaki, along with the small army of Wartortles, charged at the two arcadian students.

With the last group, Satoshi, Kasumi and Raigeki ran into what could only be described as a legion of Water Pokémon. There were hundreds of Water Pokémon swarming the expansive terrain, all aimed at taking Satoshi and his friends down. Satoshi couldn't count the number of times they ran into a trap or a large group of enemies. The path taken was not only the most dangerous, but the longest one. An hour of searching had passed, yet there was no end in sight.

Sometime down the corridor, Satoshi started frantically looking for a spot to rest. With endless enemies swarming at them, the group had no choice but to take a break. Both Satoshi and Kasumi were nearing their limit of stamina, as where their Pokémon. Luckily, he was able to spot a room nearby by and immediately took it. Like many of the rooms, it was dark and damp. This particular room, however, was apparently a weapon storage room. Crates of tridents, shields, swords, and other materials of warfare were set up. Everyone hid behind the crates to avoid detection. Little footsteps could be heard passing by.

"The humans ran this way!"

"Don't let them escape!"

"Hurry! Don't lose them!"

"Don't let them near Sukaku's chambers!" Several other voices could be heard outside the storage room. Fortunately, no one seemed to consider the storage room, so Satoshi and Kasumi were safe for the moment.

"Phew! I can't believe what bad luck we're having!" Satoshi sank to the floor, thoroughly worn out.

"With all the zapping I've been doing, I'm just about zapped-out." Falling on his back, Raigeki started gasping for air.

Kasumi knelt by the corner of the wall of crates, making sure no one was coming. "At least we can take a break here." Sitting down, everyone began tending to any wounds they had. Luckily, they had first-aid materials in their pockets to work on the minor wounds, which consisted of small gashes and cuts. With the ongoing dangers, the last thing anyone wanted was to run in unprepared.

10 minutes went by, and the feeling was all too tense. Worry and anxiety corrupted the air. Kasumi gave a fleeting glance at Satoshi, seeing his serious face. It was clear he was nowhere near giving up. But there was also worry about Yuuki and Haruka in his eyes. So much has happened so fast that no one has been able to sit down and think. _'Maybe I should say something…'_ She took a deep breath to speak.

"Hey, Kasumi…"

Well, so much for her speaking. "What is it, Satoshi?"

"There's something that's been bothering me. It's about Yuuki. To be honest, I don't think we've really met him that time in the cavern."

"Well, while I'll admit he wasn't himself, I don't think we can go as far as to say that wasn't him. Are you saying it was an illusion or something?"

Satoshi shook his head. "That's not what I mean. Even if you change in one way or another, your actions, mannerisms, and movements usually stay with you. Yuuki seemed completely different. So, I'm wondering if that was still Yuuki, or…"

"...Shiroku…" That would explain a lot of things. Everything from the violent behavior to his dark tone all pointed to Yuuki's split personality. But there was a problem with Satoshi's theory. "When we met him in the cave, he told us that he wasn't Shiroku. It wouldn't make sense for him to lie."

"…It wouldn't make sense to us, true. But I get the feeling that it wasn't really Yuuki we were talking to, whether it be because his mind was out of it or not. Either way, he sounded really desperate for whatever _it_ was."

That rang a bell in Kasumi's head, remembering a past quote from Yuuki/Shiroku.

"_This is only justified punishment. What I'm searching for is the power I need. Power to crush Saito, to kill my enemies and protect Haruka from people like you…"_

_'Justified punishment…power to kill Saito and protect Haruka…' _Kasumi considered if those words came from Shiroku rather than Yuuki. Normally, she wouldn't had believed that with Shiroku's declaration to kill her. But then again, when he had the perfect chance to that time in the forest, he couldn't do it. That led to another mystery… "What if…Shiroku cared for Haruka too?"

"That's what I was thinking!" Satoshi beamed, "What if because of what Shiroku saw, he kinda snapped and…you know…" The last thing Satoshi wanted to do was recall the bloodbath he had yet to erase from his mind.

Kasumi sighed at this. "But let's not get ahead of ourselves. All of this is just speculation. We won't know anything until we confront him again."

"I agree." Satoshi stood up, his determination and stamina making a full recovery. "We can't just sit around waiting for these answers! We have to find those two, and fast! Let's do it, Kasumi!"

"I was hoping you would say that. Let's hurry!" With their newfound strength, Satoshi, Kasumi and Raigeki left the storage room to continue down the cave. But a few feet forward, and they discovered something odd.

A large, blue gate was blocking the way.

Satoshi blinked a couple of times, trying to recap on what just happened. "So…in other words…we were already at the end?"

"...Oh…yeah…I think I forgot to mention that we were right by this room…hehehe…" Raigeki laughed nervously.

"YOU MEAN YOU KNEW!? WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL US SOONER!?" Satoshi yelled, irritated.

"Uh…Satoshi?" Kasumi called worriedly.

"Hey, it's not my fault! I was hoping you two would do something being trapped like that."

"Would you stop thinking about that kind of stuff just once!? Lives are in danger here!"

"Um…Satoshi…!?"

"I can't help it if you're slow!"

"How about I help my foot up your—"

"SATOSHI!" Kasumi screamed, scaring the two out of their argument.

"Kasumi, why are you…yelling…?" Satoshi saw Kasumi pointing a large, angry, and worst of all, VERY familiar Pokémon. He gasped with surprise, as did Raigeki. "It's…It's Mid-boss!"

'Mid-boss' grinned sinisterly. "In the fles—wait a second, I'm not a mid-boss! I'm Hozaru, dammit!"

* * *

I'll admit that this chapter didn't take as long as I thought it would. I just didn't have the time. Hopefully you enjoy this entry and prepare yourselves for an action-packed chapter. Be sure to drop a review and keep life easy.


	27. Love Tajiri: Deathmatch

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. Comprehende?

* * *

Deep inside Sukaku's lair, the three teams had separated to discover the whereabouts of Haruka and Yuuki

Kabushi closely surveyed his surrounding area. Dozens of shadows could be seen in the water, hiding the inner dangers of the deep. Several rocks that served as platforms were spread out the room, with Yamaga on the other end. Fighting a psychic had never been a practice for him, so this bout would be a new experience.

But that was the problem entirely.

The young samurai glanced over at Ayane, who looked stressed over the situation. Her eyes danced nervously over the area she was standing. Kabushi could only pray she wasn't losing her nerve so soon. "Ayane, are you..."

"Don't worry, I'm fine for now. But more importantly, this won't be an easy battle. We can't form any plans, otherwise he will know."

"That doesn't sound like a particularly safe idea. Are we actually going to face that Slowking without a plan?" Leo asked.

"It sure doesn't sound any worse than to give him a chance to predict our moves. There has to be a way…"

Yamaga grinned wickedly, watching his victims plot meaninglessly. "Fools, there is no chance for you. I think I'll start with sending that ninja into the depths of the sea." Lifting his hand, the slowking channeled his psychic power towards Ayane. Strangely, he couldn't hold onto her with his abilities. "What? Impossible!" He tried to use his abilities on the other two, but to no avail.

He was confused, something he hated.

"Don't even think about it, Yamaga." Ayane flashed several orange pieces of paper with several kanji written on them. "I've placed an anti-psychic talisman on everyone, so your tricks won't work on us. Ninjas are especially trained to handle those with exceptional magic abilities."

Yamaga's eyes narrowed angrily. "You will regret messing with me, human. You may not be able to be affected, but the same can't be said about your surroundings!" Using his abilities, Yamaga targeted two large spots in the water behind the group, erecting two pillars of water. The water towers were hurled at the trio, who were separated after dodging the crushing water attack. "At least I can read their thoughts. Now let's see what is going on in their puny minds…" Yamaga's first victim was Kabushi, who was jumping platform to platform, all the while avoiding the leaping waves of Carvannas jumping at him.

'_This is crazy! I'm supposed to fight without a plan in mind? Damn psychics and their cheap abilities. If only I can get close somehow. Maybe I'll summon Raijin…'_ Kabushi fingered for his Pokéball.

"Kabu-kun, do not summon a Pokémon! Only anti-psychic Pokémon will be effective. Leave that to me and Leo!"

"Of course!" Leo unclipped his Pokéball, prepared to summon Esca.

Shot down.

'…_God dammit…'_ Kabushi was starting to feel more and more left out. Yamaga suddenly found something to exploit…

"Yoko-chan, let's take out this psychic!"

"Esca, let's go!" Ayane and Leo summoned their respective Pokémon. The Sneasel and the Espeon were more than ready for battle.

"Ah, a Slowking. Haven't battled one of those in a good while…" Yoko crouched in a running position.

"Awaiting commands." Esca waited patiently for either Leo's commands or Yamaga's actions.

"Yoko, use Swift!"

"Esca, use Psybeam!"

"Hmph, nice try! Mirror Coat!" Yamaga created a large water wall that absorbed Yoko's swift attack, nullifying the attack. Though Esca's Psybeam went through the water, the attack was reflected back at Esca by the Mirror Coat, who luckily dodged it.

"Tch, clever." Ayane didn't like how smart Yamaga was for a Slowking. Yamaga knew he couldn't use both Counter and Mirror Coat at the same time, but used the water around it to absorb the physical attack. Close range was definitely the best way to defeat Yamaga. However, that was starting to be a problem.

_SPLASH!_

Several columns of water slammed into the occupied platforms. Everyone managed to avoid getting crushed from the waves. "I think it's time to change things up a bit." Going deep into his psychic powers, Yamaga used it to lift a dozen Remoraids from the water and hold them into the air. "Remoraids, use Water Gun!" The school of floating fishes fired high pressured water attacks at the group. The attacks were aimed at Ayane, Leo, and their Pokémon.

Everyone but Kabushi.

'_I'm the only one not being attacked? That bastard must think I'm weak! I'll show him!'_ Kabushi charged after the Slowking, jumping from one platform to another.

While dodging and deflecting the Remoraid attacks with her ninja sword, Ayane spotted Kabushi running after Yamaga. It was strange why he was the only one being bombarded by attacks. Unless… "Kabu-kun, don't attack Yamaga!" It was too late, however, as Kabushi swung his blade at the Slowking.

"Counter."

WHAM!

"Argh, dammit!" The red wave struck Kabushi hard, flinging him in the air.

"Water…GUN!" Yamaga shot a strong Water Gun attack at Kabushi, which propelled him into the ceiling roughly.

"Guh…damn you…!" Kabushi struggled through the high pressure water attack, holding his sword against it. "Thu…THUNDER STRIKE!"

BZZT!

"Gwah!" Yamaga quickly ceased his water attack, weakened from the electric attack.

"Leo-kun, save Kabu-kun! I'll handle Yamaga!" Ayane ran with Yoko after the psychic while Leo headed for the fallen Kabushi.

The red haired samurai glanced over at the rushing Leo, contemplating about the mysterious Ivalian student. _'That Leo…come to think of it, wasn't he taller earlier?' _Now that Kabushi remembered, Leo seemed to have changed his appearance when he was talking to Ayane. Somehow, that guy was two different people. What did this mean? Regardless of the oddness, there was no time for such thoughts. He tried to push himself off the ground, but the shock he received from falling from the ceiling hadn't settled down, paralyzing his muscles. "Dammit all…get…up…!"

"Kabushi!" Leo managed to safely reach Kabushi's platform thanks to Esca's Light Screen, protecting him from the Remoraids and Yamaga's attacks. Lifting the boy up, the alchemist helped Kabushi get back in his feet. "That was reckless of you. NEVER rush a psychic with just brute strength."

"YOU shut up!" Kabushi bitterly shrugged him off. Something about Leo rubbed him the wrong way, what it was exactly he didn't know.

"This is no time for childish antics. Follow behind me and—"

"The hell with that! I will do things my own way!"

"Yes, we clearly saw you using _your _way, and got trounced in the process. That's why you should follow our lead instead of acting like a petulant child."

"Why you obnoxious little…"

"Kabu-kun, Leo-kun, knock it off!" Ayane chastised.

'_Gotcha.'_ Yamaga opened his mouth, aiming at Ayane. A light began to envelop inside. By the time the young kunoichi noticed, it was too late. "Hyper Beam."

_ZAM!_

Just before the attack hit, Yoko jumped in front of Ayane, taking the full brunt of the hit. However, the force sent Yoko crashing into Ayane and pushed them to the wall. The sneasel was knocked out from the power, and thankfully fell on one of the platforms.

Ayane, however, wasn't so fortunate.

With a start, Kabushi and Leo gasped in horror. "AYANE!"

_SPLASH!_

Unconscious, Ayane plunged into the water. Several shadows from the water quickly swam to Ayane's position, preparing to feast on her. Kabushi's eyes widened as he saw the bubbles started appearing less and less. "Ayane…!" He was more than prepared to dive in for her, but Leo held fast.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"What the hell is wrong with you? She's going to die if we don't go after her!"

Leo's expression turned grimed as he looked away. "I'm afraid…it's too late to save her."

"What…? No!" Kabushi looked helplessly as the air bubbles suddenly stopped, followed by the spot being filled with blood. It hit him with incredible shock that Ayane, his teammate, was killed. The worst part of all was the fact it was his fault for distracting her. He felt crushed. "Ayane…"

Yamaga reveled in the fact he took out the most competent annoyance of the teens. HIs battle should go alot smoother with Ayane gone. "Foolish imbeciles! One down and two to go. This shouldn't be too difficult. Now, who shall be nex—"

_SLASH!_

A large cut mark appeared on Yamaga's chest, startling the water/psychic Pokémon. His eyes widened as he saw Kabushi standing in front of him, a look of pure malice on his face. It was clear Kabushi wasn't going to take Ayane's death lying down. "There shall be no mercy for you."

'_That was…too fast to catch! What kind of human can do that?'_ Before Kabushi could land another strike, Yamaga teleported away from him and reappeared on the other side of the room. "That was close."

"Unfortunately for you, I am closer." Leo said, crouched behind Yamaga with his sword readied.

"Dammit! Counter!" Yamaga activated the counter barrier. _'Now I should be safe.'_

"Esca, Psybeam!" Leo commanded.

_ZAM!_

The attack struck Yamaga's back, piercing through his Counter barrier. With Counter inactive, Leo was prepared to finish the Slowking off when Yamaga opened his mouth. "Ice Beam!"

Leo was blasted all the way to the wall, most of his body frozen onto the wall. With his hands sealed, it would be impossible to perform an alchemic transmutation. He was unable to continue fighting. _'This…is not good.'_ The only person left to protect the enraged Kabushi was Esca, who was also battling the random Pokémon jumping out of the water.

Things were looking bad.

"Hmph, two down…" Yamaga eyed the two remaining opponents: Kabushi and Esca, who were knocking down the Water Pokémon bounding from the lake. It was obvious he would have to take things a bit seriously. His eyes glowed bright blue as he pointed his hand at Esca. Unfortunately for the Espeon, she recognized Yamaga's presence too late to react. "Disable." Esca was frozen within a blue aura, immobilized. She would not be able to act further until Yamaga deactivated the attack.

This left Kabushi alone, facing a powerful psychic threat. The only Pokémon that would be able to have any effect was his Raichu, but he would most likely get thrashed by the psychic abilities.

This battle was completely one-sided.

"You're all alone, little samurai. Your chance for victory was lost the moment your friends' fate was sealed. For a moment, I almost thought I was in trouble with your burst of anger, but now I know differently. You've let your teammates down and failed as a team leader. Your utter weakness and human faultiness has led to your downfall. So, what do you have to say for yourself before I destroy you?"

Kabushi was silent as he stood his ground, impossible odds against him. "Yeah, you're right…I did fail my teammates. I was too wrapped up in myself to take this battle seriously. If I was a little stronger and took things more seriously, perhaps everyone could've gotten out of here without casualties. However…" He smirked confidently, in a way that only Satoshi could do. Yamaga didn't like this one bit. "Your fatal error was pissing me off. So, you better pray for mercy." Kabushi pulled his sword back and slid his feet apart, showing the true visage of a samurai. "Because you shall pay for taking Ayane's life with your blood…" Yamaga could see a strange energy circling Kabushi. Dozens upon dozensl of transparent chains and similar restraining devices appeared around Kabushi The amount of bindings around him looked as though it was meant to hold back a being of immeasurable strength and lethal force. "Blood Seal limit break…Blood Assimilation." As he spoke those words, all of the transparent limiters were broken into tiny shards. He slid his finger tips along his sword, which quickly absorbed the blood that was stained.

Yamaga's blood.

"Blood assimilation…? Strange chains appearing on his body? What is going on?" Yamaga attempted to read his mind, but encountered a startling problem.

Kabushi was somehow blocking him.

"Heh, so this is what it feels like to have psychic abilities…" To the Pokémon's surprise, one of Kabushi's irises turned light blue while the other changed to violet. "Too bad for you…your time has run out..."

Meanwhile, another fierce battle was taking place within the icy prison of Sukaku's lair. Ryuga and Imite were left to face a legion of Wartortles and Octillerys, followed by Kurosaki, the powerhouse Crawdaunt.

_CRASH!_

Ryuga rolled away from a devastating Crabhammer, which shattered an ice pillar. While his and Imite's Pokémon were helpful in holding back the Water-type Pokémon, Kurosaki was clearly becoming a real threat. If the two were to stand a chance, they had to get an advantage over the large Crawdaunt. Kurosaki wasn't your average opponent. Not only did he know how to use his strength, but his surroundings as well.

"Hahaha! This be a fun fight! Crabhammer!" Kurosaki launched another blue ball of energy at the mage.

"You'll have to do better than that to get me!" Ryuga side-stepped the Crabhammer attack. "Ha, simple."

Imite found something wrong with this situation already. Kurosaki looked very confident about this attack. She realized it quickly once she saw the Crabhammer attack slamming into the wall. "Ryu-kun! Move it!"

"What do you want, Enemy-san…?" Ryuga gasped as he saw a stalactite dropping from the ceiling. Quickly, the mage jumped away from the large ice spike. Another surprise awaited the mage as he felt a large energy approaching behind him.

It was the Crabhammer attack.

_WHAM!_

"Argh!" Struck dead on, Ryuga slammed roughly onto the icy floor.

"I'm no idiot when it comes to da art o' Crabhammerin, punk! Take this example!" Swinging his giant claws, Kurosaki smacked the Crabhammer ball, sending it hurling towards Ryuga.

"Oh no! I won't make it in time! Unless…" Imite quickly formed hand symbols to perform a jutsu. "Water Style: Shark Blade Jutsu!" From her hands erupted a large surge of water that whipped at the Crabhammer attack. It was strong enough to deflect the attack away, sending it crashing into one of the groups of rampaging water Pokémon.

Kurosaki's eyes narrowed at Imite. _'Wait a minute…dat be one of em' human techniques called ninjutsu? Interesting…' _Ninjutsu wasn't something new to him. Of course, it is thanks to his training that he can get around it. The real problem was the mage, who he recognized very well. "Oi, sissy-lookin' boy! Do ya be da one dat hangs around wit dat one guy?"

'_Did he just call me sissy looking? Why that arrogant…'_ Ryuga decided to ignore that comment, but was curious with Kurosaki's question. "Who do you mean by that guy?"

"Dat guy wit da mysterious look 'n his eyes. What's his name again…ah yeah, Saito!"

Imite was shocked with that name. _'Saito? Isn't that the name of the rogue sensei who started the whole Shadow Raid incident? Why on Gaetia would a Pokémon way out here know about such a guy? And what relationship would that guy have with Ryu-kun? This doesn't make sense!'_

Standing up, Ryuga dusted the snow off his mage robe. "You are correct, Kurosaki-kun. It's been awhile."

'_WHAT?'_ Imite was dumbfounded with this new set of knowledge. Of course, she was going to keep quiet and listen to their conversation. At least then, she could develop a plan to defeat Kurosaki and save the others within the ice prison.

"So it has, sissy-lookin lad!"

"Don't call me sissy-looking, dammit!"

Kurosaki immediately turned serious. "But really, why are ya here, and workin' wit dat eyebrow lass? I thought you boys don't hang wit them Arcadian guys, especially you of all people, cursed child."

'_Eyebrow lass?'_ If the conversation wasn't getting so interesting, she would've lobbed a knife down Kurosaki's throat long ago.

"That's none of your concern. We're taking Shiroku-san back to Aka City. That is our only reason for being here. As for Enemy-san, I was unfortunate enough to have her stalk me here."

"STALK YOU?" Forget killing Kurosaki. Ryuga just jumped to the top of her blacklist.

"Heh, interesting. Didn't think ya were da type to have an ex-girlfriend stalkin' ya!"

"EXCUSE ME?" Imite didn't know what level of offense that was, but it was beyond all her wild imagination.

"Ex-girlfriend? She's not even qualified to be a pet."

That tore it. "Oh no you didn't…!" Imite stormed up to Ryuga, grabbing him by his collar. "Don't go around insulting people when they're right next to you, jerk!"

"Unhand me this instant! The last thing I want is to catch something from your vexed looking eyebrows. I might get cooties."

"What are you, a 1st grader? I'll bash your teeth in if you don't cut it out!"

"How about I cut your eyebrows! That way, you won't frighten small children!"

"You bastard! Don't make me—"

_CLAMP!_

"Don't be relaxing just yet, kiddies! We're still in a battle!" With his giant pincers, Kurosaki snagged the bickering teens.

"Gah! Damn it all…!" Ryuga growled, the hard claws slowly crushing him.

'_This isn't good. I can't believe I let my defenses down so much…! Damn you, Ryu-kun…!'_ Imite needed to perform a jutsu to get out before she got crushed. What was also pressing was the fact she was being squeezed into Ryuga. This had uncomfortable and disgusting written all over it. Their Pokémon were too caught up within their own battles to assist them at the moment, leaving them exposed. Fortunately, Imite was able to free her arms. "Ryu-kun, I know you're gonna hate this, but bear with it…"

"What are you talking abo—What are you doing?" Ryuga's eyes widened as he felt Imite's arms wrap around him. He was starting to feel uncomfortable for various reasons.

"I told you to bear with it. Alright, got it! Hang tight!"

"Like hell I'll—" Suddenly, the two disappeared from Kurosaki's pincer. In their place was a thick stalactite.

_SHATTER!_

"Damn brats…!" The large piece of ice in his claw broke into tiny shards under the pressure. Kurosaki glanced about the area for any signs of the kids. "Alright, if I were a couple o' scrubs, where would I be hidin'…?"

Meanwhile, Imite and Ryuga appeared behind a thick column of ice. Thanks to the replication jutsu, the two were able to except the Vice attack unscathed. Once they were away from the Water Fang admiral, Imite withdrew her arms quickly, which were still embracing Ryuga. "Look, just to be clear, I had to do that so I could use a jutsu."

"Personally, I would rather died than be embraced by you." Ryuga pointed out clearly, annoyed with their close contact.

"You weren't so reluctant back at the beach…"

"It was a reflex, damn you!"

"I thought it was planned."

"Same thing!"

"They're completely different, moron!"

"Don't call me moron, eyebrow wench!"

"Mop head!"

"Dolt!"

Dumbass!"

"Vexing bit—"

"Found ya!" Kurosaki laughed hauntingly, looming over the bickering teens.

Ryuga and Imite paled upon the sight of the giant lobster. "….Shi—"

_CHING!_

The two barrel-rolled away from the beast just before Kurosaki swung at them, his huge claws cleaving the stalagmite in half.

As the two dodges Kurosaki's attacks, Imite was curious about the conversation that took place. More importantly, Kurosaki called Ryuga the cursed child. Now that she thought about it, Ryuga had never been seen talking to anyone except his own teammates. _'Did that have something to do with him being cursed? What was the curse, anyway? Ooh…! Why does that loser have to be so damn mysterious?' _Just thinking about it made her extremely curious, but also worried.

"Enemy-san. Focus on the battle and do not waste time on useless thoughts." Ryuga spoke seriously, side-stepping another Crabhammer attack. He could tell she was thinking about something relating to what Kurosaki blabbered out. Regardless, he had no time to worry about that. Kurosaki's Crabhammers were getting annoying. But the worst part was that he knew the giant crab was more capable than that single move.

What was that giant crab thinking…?

Kurosaki continuously pounded Crabhammer after Crabhammer at the duo. Those children did not know that not only did they already fall for his trap, but they were knee deep in trouble already. After his last Crabhammer dissipated, he stopped. "Heh, I think I've set things up pretty nicely. You guys are doomed now."

Ryuga and Imite froze in their tracks, surprised with the comment. "What do you mean by that? All you've been doing is bouncing Crabhammer attacks all over the place. You haven't done anything!" Imite said.

"You're half right lass. But why doncha take a good look at yourselves?"

"Oh no…!" Ryuga paled as he glanced at his clothes. Frost and snow were slowly enveloping his magician's gown, which made things several times colder and heavier. The air was getting thinner and thinner by the second, which made breathing very difficult. On Ryuga's back, where the recent Crabhammer hit, there was a large patch of ice. It was then Ryuga realized that Kurosaki wasn't just trying to attack them with Crabhammers.

He was slowly freezing them to death.

"Ya mighta thought I was just a dummy, but da only dummies are ya two. Now I gotcha right where I want ya!"

'_Ugh…it's so cold…!_' Ninjas were required to wear little clothing for mobility, so she was in even worse shape than Ryuga, and she hadn't even been injured yet. Her body was shivering from the intense frost that reached down to her bones.

_'Heh, its easy science when ya think about it. Heat expands and cold retracts, so if I make da muscles tight, those punks can't move right! I made sure my Crabhammers were nice n' frosty fo da brats! Now I can use my signature attacks…'_ Kurosaki started creating dozens of large bubbles with his mouth, each of them slowly floating in the air, hovering over Ryuga and Imite. The two slowly started stepping back, unsure of what was going on. Within a few seconds, frost started to cover the bubbles as they began to freeze and drop from the sky.

_CRASH!_

Ryuga and Imite barely avoided getting crushed by giant ice bubbles, hitting the icy earth like 2 ton boulders. What made things worse was difficult to see Kurosaki's location since the ice bubble's reflective surface acted like a mirror. The density of the icy air doubled in the area. _'Damn that Crawdaunt! My body is getting numb from the cold…!' _Ryuga thought, rubbing his arms to warm himself up.

"I'm not done yet! Here it comes! Crabhammer!" Launching the attack, the icy energy sphere slammed into the collection of ice bubbles, causing them to shatter and launch icy, sharp shards flying about. Both the ninja and mage were struck by the shards and the speedy Crabhammer, injuring them greatly. The two were lying on the ground, weakened and stricken with frost. "Bwahahaha! Is dat all ya got? I didn't even break a sweat!"

"Dammit! RYUGA!" Anji banged on the ice wall repeated, desperate to try and get to Ryuga. "This isn't good…not at all…"

"I agree. Things are looking very grave at the moment." Motoko feared.

"Not just that, but Ryu-kun's body hasn't dealt with such weather conditions before. The sudden change will make him extremely vulnerable. He might die from the arctic conditions long before Kurosaki kills him." Anji closed his eyes, gritting his teeth. _'Imite-san…I beg of you…save Ryu-kun for me…!'_ He was truly worried for both his teammate and Imite.

On the battlefield, Imite struggled to stand up, her body feeling like a block of ice. Looking to her side, she could see Ryuga's eyes wide open, dilated. He was teetering between consciousness.

This was bad.

If Ryuga were to be unconscious, the cold would kill him within minutes. She had to get him away. Putting her hands together, she quickly made a ninjutsu symbol. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" 8 Imite clones appeared as they darted at Kurosaki. While the Crawdaunt was busy, Imite carefully dragged Ryuga's body behind a stalagmite to hide. Though she was in bad shape, Ryuga was in much worse condition. _'Damn idiot! Why are you always so troublesome?'_ She thought half-angrily. This would be the second time she would have to save his life. After hiding in a good location, she began checking his body's condition. His skin was light blue, and his pulse was very low. Imite was slowly starting to panic.

Ryuga was going into hypothermia.

'_I know it's really cold, but I didn't imagine he was this sensitive to it!'_ First thing she had to do was to take off the iced shirt because it started getting too cold. As she did, she made sure to keep his body off the cold floor by laying him on her lap. Her pale cheeks blushed from the awkward situation, but didn't have a choice if she wanted to save him. Peeking around the ice pillar, she noticed that 5 of her clones have already disappeared.

Things were looking very grim.

"Alright Ryu-kun, you better appreciate this, because this will happen only once." Imite's face gained a dark red blush as she realized her quickest way to heat themselves up…

With Ryuga, he felt his mind drifting. At first, everything was painful, but then, the pain started to subside, replaced with numbness and sleepiness. All he wanted to do was sleep and forget this madness he got himself into with that demon hair destroying woman. _'Sleep…let me just get some sleep…' _He was about to fall sleep when he felt something warm. Warm…and comfortable. He liked this sensation, as it was taking away the numbness. _'This feeling, it's familiar, and yet, so comfortable. But where do I know this from?' _As his senses started coming back, he slowly started opening his eyes.

The first thing he saw in front of him was fire. His eyes followed where the fire was coming from, which was a paper talisman. It was then he noticed two small hands holding onto the talisman, followed by arms that were wrapped around him. This left Ryuga's slowly recovering mind lots of questions._ 'Where am I, and why is my shirt off? If I remember correctly, I was fighting Kurosaki-san with…with…with…!' _The mage paled in horror as he slowly turned around to glance behind him.

Imite was the one holding him.

And the only thing she had on was a bra and her lower ninja gear.

Imite noticed the horror-stricken face and smiled nervously. "Um…I can totally explain this!"

"WAAAAH!" With speed that would beat any ninja, Ryuga shot away from the imitating ninja. It didn't help that the fire talisman was still lit and fell on him. "GWAAH! IT BURNS!" After patting the fire on his chest out, he tossed Imite an astounded stare. He was bewildered and shocked with what he had witnessed. "WHAT WERE YOU TRYING TO DO TO ME?"

"I was trying to save your life! You should be thanking me!" Imite demanded angrily.

"I would if I'd asked for it! I'd prefer to be embraced by death than by you! And for the sake of my sanity, put your clothes back on!"

"Why you…!" Imite was embarrassed, angry, and irritated. But most of all, she was hurt. She made a defeated sigh as she slipped her ninja shirt back on. "It's not like I wanted you to die…"

Ryuga stopped panicking when he noticed Imite's displeased manner. Stubborn, he huffed defiantly. "Stop whining. I didn't ask you to stick your neck out for me. For the same reason, if I died, it wouldn't be your fault, so quit acting like a lost child."

"Ugh, so annoying…" Imite mumbled bitterly.

Ryuga felt a stab at those words. But all he could do was growl at her, unable to develop a comeback. Her anger was pretty reasonable. Frustrated for many reasons, he hesitated to try to say something. That girl was so bothersome. "Listen, Enemy-san. I—"

_SMACK!_

With a quick dash, Imite slammed the back of her fist into Ryuga's face, sending him hurling onto the floor. Ryuga's expression went from immediate confusion to anger. She didn't have to get that made at him. "You evil, eyebrow wench! Why the hell did you—"

_SLASH!_

A huge claw sliced through the stalagmite, and in the process slashed Imite deeply, large amounts of blood gushing out of the gash across her body. The force knocked her far back, slamming against the wall of the area. She slid down the wall, unable to stand back up. "Nice little trick ya tried to pull back there! But ya punks are outta spunk! Now it's a killin' time!" Kurosaki raised his giant claw to deliver the final blow.

"Crystal Lightning Blade!"

_BZZZT!_

"BLARG!" Kurosaki was blasted away from Imite, sliding across the battleground. A hard, metal object slashed his side, leaving a huge cut and a large shock. The Water Fang admiral was left dazed from the sucker punch. "Ugh…what hit me…?"

Imite, still conscious, struggled to stand up, but was unable to. She weakly glanced upward at her savoir, a very unlikely person to, once again, save her life. "Ry…Ryu-kun…?"

Ryuga held a fierce, determined expression as he stood near Imite, a broadsword made of crystal in his hand. The weapon broke down and transformed into four crystal balls and floated into the air. The mage did not face Imite, but kept a firm focus on Kurosaki. "Enemy-san, listen very carefully, because I will only say it once. What you are about to see must remain inside these four walls. You are very fortunate, since so very few people have seen this side of me…" With the crystal soul spheres revolving around him, Ryuga's pupils started changing into a deep shade of red. Black spots started forming on his skin until he was as spotted as a Dalmatian, his hair taking on spots of light red. A dark aura enveloped his body, infusing him with unimaginable power. "And even fewer have lived to tell about Tsukimono Ryuga, son of the cursed generation…"

Imite's eyes widened, unable to comprehend the ominous feeling she was getting from this frightening version of Ryuga. Just what on Gaetia was he? "Ryu-kun…?"

Ryuga grinned maliciously as he calmly spoke four words. "Curse seal limit…break…"

Elsewhere, Satoshi and Kasumi were dueling with Mid-boss, and having a very difficult time. Though they were much stronger than before, the fact that half of their forces were scattered made their situation as strenuous as their first encounter with the Ursaring. Unlike their first bout, Mid-boss had returned with more tricks and devastating attacks. "ICE BEAM!" Hozaru shot a blue beam from his mouth, the attack running across the large cavern hall horizontally. Satoshi, Kasumi, and their released Pokémon managed to evade the attack, by jumping or crouching, the floor and walls being covered in ice.

"So you can use ice attacks now? You're just full of surprises, Mid-boss!" Raigeki said, prepared to move or strike at any moment.

Mid-boss grew infuriated. "STOP CALLING ME MID-BOSS!" In a fit of rage, he shot another round of Ice Beams, forcing everyone to avoid the attack.

"We have to do something about that Ice Beam of his. It's even worse than his Flamethrower!" Satoshi gritted his teeth, frustrated with their current position. All of their Pokémon were released and ready to battle. Mid-battle, however, Mikado and Zohl were put to sleep by a strange new attack Hozaru used.

"I'll take him on! Uwoooo!" Pumped up from previously using Focus energy, Baiken leapt onto the walls and bounced off the wall to jump over the Ice Beam and fly at Hozaru, preparing a Rolling Kick.

"Baiken-chan, wait!" Kasumi called out.

For Baiken, it was too late.

Cutting off his Ice Beam, Hozaru wore a sleepy look on his face. "Uwaaah..." During the yawn, a puff of white smoke emerged out of his mouth and struck Baiken. The fighting fowl yawned in response, looking very sleepy. Hozaru grinned, easily side-stepping the haphazard Rollling Kick. After crashing and rolling on the ground, Baiken was fast asleep.

"Wha…what kind of attack is that?" Kasumi asked out of surprise.

"Yawn. An ingenious technique if I do say so myself. Anyone hit by it is quick to fall asleep. Ever since our last battle, I've trained myself relentlessly for the day that I encounter you brats again! My honor as the Power Fang of the Raokei is at stake! However, to thank you for giving me my first defeat as part of the Fangs, I shall show you a secret attack that I've been working on. I saved it just for you guys."

"Secret attack? That can't be good." Satoshi started sweating nervously. Things were not looking good.

Hozaru clenched his paws tightly, positioning his legs similar to that of a sumo wrestler. "Haaa…!" A powerful force began to emanate from the Ursaring, making Team Tatsujin back away. The grizzly bear Pokémon had a tense look on his face, his body getting solidified harder and harder by sheer muscle. Whatever the Pokémon was planning, it was going to be massive. It was only about half a minute, but the pressure that Team Tatsujin felt made it seem like hours passed by. "Hehehe, your time has run out, brats! READY OR NOT, HERE I CO—"

_CRASH!_

Something large broke through the ceiling of the hallway and slammed into Hozaru. The dust that erupted veiled the identity of the flying object. Satoshi and Kasumi, stunned, peered closer at the object that crashed through the ceiling. How it broke through all the rocks and dirt that led to this area was a mystery. However, once the dust cloud settled, their jaws dropped, eyes widen with horror and shock.

It was Seta's van that broke through the ceiling.

"Oh my, I should've known better than to ignore that banana peel…" Seta laughed, stepping out of the now burning vehicle. Kasumi was astounded with the amount of blood the man's head was gushing out. Satoshi and Raigeki were just plain speechless. Seta took notice to Satoshi and Kasumi and smiled happily, somehow ignoring the burning sensation on his back. "Hey guys! Looks like you two could use some help!"

"You're the one who needs help!" Both Satoshi and Kasumi yelled.

Moans and groans could be heard from inside the van as three people fell out of the van's side door, dizzy and exhausted. This led to even more surprises, Satoshi pointed at them in shock. "Shigeru-niichan! Sakura-chan! Ibuki-sensei!"

Ibuki, sprawled on the ground, weakly attempting to keep conscious. "Kami-sama…if I live, I swear I'll never drink again…"

Shigeru was in no better shape, hanging onto Sakura for dear life. "I didn't think we could ever hit so many G-forces. I could swear I felt my soul leave my body…"

Hanging onto the van, Sakura's legs were trembling, her eyes wide from terror. She held her fore fingers onto her neck, checking for a pulse. "Well, I'm not dead yet. I guess that's a sign that Kami-sama is watching over me…"

Satoshi didn't know where to start, flabbergasted. But one question just had to be asked. "What…are you guys doing here?"

Gathering themselves, Shigeru, Ibuki, and Sakura straightened themselves up. "A little birdie told us that you were heading into enemy territory, so we came to help you guys."

"Thanks you guys. We could definitely use it."

"Sato-kun, where are the others?" Shigeru asked.

"We split up around the entrance of the cave. There were three paths. We took the middle."

"Ah, I see. Since this is the middle, I'd suppose this is the toughest path. That's my cue." Ibuki slapped her fist together in anticipation. "Shigeru-kun, Sakura-chan, go find the others in the separate paths and be careful. Seta-san, you're with me."

"That's fine. Sa-chan, let's go." Shigeru said.

"I will in a moment. Kasumi-chan, listen for a second." Sakura ran up to Kasumi and whispered something in her ear.

"Huh? Wha?" Kasumi blinked, confused with her words. Before she could ask, Sakura ran off with Shigeru. "I wonder what that was all about…"

"Alright. Now that that's over with, let's go find Haruka-chan." Just as Ibuki finished her statement, a loud roar ripped through the air, followed by the van being propelled and tossed over the group.

"I'm not finished yet, fools!" Shouted Mid-boss, recovering from the sneak attack.

Ibuki, recognizing the threat, quickly took a fighting stance, as did Seta. "Satoshi-kun, Kasumi-chan, go ahead through that door! Seta-san and I will take on this brute!"

Kasumi was shocked by her words. "Wait, Seta-san is fighting too?"

"I'm more capable than I seem, Kasumi-san. Please go ahead with Satoshi-kun, we will be fine." Seta nodded.

Kasumi seemed unsure at first, but after noting Satoshi nod, she was convinced. "Okay. You two be careful. Satoshi-kun, let's go!"

"Right behind ya!" Recalling their Pokémon, Satoshi and Kasumi dashed forward, heading for the large door.

"The hell you are getting away! RAAH!" The ursaring swung his large paws at Satoshi, only to have it blocked by Ibuki. Hozaru was stunned that such a frail looking human could've blocked his attack.

"You're not touching one hair on their heads, Hozaru-kun."

Hozaru was surprised that the human knew his name at first, but then he smirked wickedly. "Glad to see I've met more worthy opponents. I suppose I could skip those brats for today. I'll just take you on instead!"

"Hmph, bring it, big boy!" Just as Satoshi and Kasumi opened the door a good bit, Ibuki, Seta and Hozaru began their brutal bout.

Beyond the door, Satoshi and Kasumi were shocked with what a large beauty the throne room was. Unfortunately, their amazement was halted by a large Blastoise on the other side of the room, who was smirking haugtingly.

"Welcome to my lair, humans…" Sukaku spoke, his booming voice echoing throughout the room.

"…Damn that's a huge bastard!" Raigeki shouted, frightened.

Satoshi and Kasumi couldn't help but agree with Raigeki. That was probably the biggest Blastoise the two have ever seen, equipped with a large trident and tough battle armor over his thick shell. The Pokemon had to be atleast 20 feet tall.

This battle was going to be their toughest battle yet.


End file.
